Miscrediting

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The act of erroneously providing acknowledgment to an entity or individual
2. The action of mistakenly giving credit to the wrong person or source
3. The process of inaccurately assigning recognition for work or achievement

Etymology: "Miscrediting" is the present participle and gerund of "miscredit," which is formed from the prefix "mis-," meaning wrongly or badly, and "credit," which in its older sense meant to believe or trust in something. Put together, "miscredit" means to give credit or belief to the wrong person or source. The "mis-" prefix, attached to English verbs since Old English, is the same element found in "misjudge" or "mislead," and it contributes the sense of error here. The base word "credit" traces back through Old French "crédit" to Latin "creditum," a thing entrusted or lent, from "credere," to believe or trust. That origin explains the older meaning of credit as trust or belief, which survives in phrases such as "to give credit to a rumour." The financial sense of credit, a loan or balance in an account, developed from the same Latin root, since a lender trusts the borrower to repay.

Synonyms: discrediting, doubting, undermining

Antonyms: crediting, believing, trusting