creed

/kɹiːd//kɹid/

creed noun: that which is believed; accepted doctrine, especially religious doctrine; a particular set of beliefs; any summary of principles or opinions professed or adhered to.

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Noun

creed (plural creeds)

That which is believed; accepted doctrine, especially religious doctrine; a particular set of beliefs; any summary of principles or opinions professed or adhered to.
- Holonyms: belief system, cosmology
- Near-synonym: dogma
Synonyms:

dogma
(specifically) A reading or statement of belief that summarizes the faith it represents; a confession of faith for public use, especially one which is brief and comprehensive.
- A creed is a manifesto of religious or spiritual beliefs
- [N]ow ſuch a liue vngodly, vvithout a care of doing the wil of the Lord (though they profeſſe him in their mouths, yea though they beleeue and acknowledge all the Articles of the Creed, yea haue knowledge of the Scripturs) yet if they liue vngodly, they deny God, and therefore ſhal be denied, […]1604, Jeremy Corderoy, A Short Dialogve, wherein is Proved, that No Man can be Saved without Good VVorkes, 2nd edition, Oxford: Printed by Ioseph Barnes, and are to be sold in Paules Church-yard at...
(rare) The fact of believing; belief, faith.
- Oh love! how perfect is thy mystic art, / Strengthening the weak, and trampling on the strong, / How self-deceitful is the sagest part / Of mortals whom thy lure hath led along— / The precipice she stood on was immense, / So was her creed in her own innocence.1819, [Lord Byron], “Canto I”, in Don Juan, London: Printed by Thomas Davison, Whitefriars, →OCLC, stanza CVI, page 56

Verb

creed (third-person singular simple present creeds, present participle creeding, simple past and past participle creeded)

(ambitransitive, obsolete, only survives in "creeded") To believe; to credit.
- Only this I marvelled, and other men have since, whenas I, in a ſubject ſo new to this age, and ſo hazardous to pleaſe, concealed not my name, why this author, defending that part which is ſo creeded by the people, would conceal his.1645 March 4, J[ohn] M[ilton], Colasterion: A Reply to a Nameles Ansvver against The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce. Wherein the Trivial Author of that Answer is Discover’d, the Licencer...
- And ſo, no doubt, were his other Preferments as acceptable, which did require ſuch Athanaſsian Subſcriptions, &c. and which he in an Athanaſian Form ſubſcrib'd, creeded, and worſhip'd for till his dying-day.1731, Simon Scriblerus [pseudonym], Whistoneutes: Or, Remarks on Mr. Whiston’s Historical Memoirs of the Life of Dr. Samuel Clarke, &c., London: Printed for T. Warner, at th Black-Boy in...
(intransitive) To provide with a creed.
- The poor like Priests—Priests utilise the poor; / High Church the common people feeding / Exclaims—"You Low Church indolents observe / How we go about leavening and creeding!"1872, “The Survivor” [pseudonym; Walter Rowton], “Part the Fourth”, in Hal and I. In Four Parts, London: Elliot Stock, 62 Paternoster Row, →OCLC, page 122
- Especially in the studies of religions less creeded than Christianity scholars have long insisted on the importance in religion of sacred stories.1977, Peter Slater, “Religion as Story: The Biography of Norman Bethune”, in Peter Slater, editor, Religion and Culture in Canada = Religion et Culture au Canada, Toronto, Ont.: Canadian Corporation...

Proper noun (1) capitalized: Creed

Creed (plural Creeds)

A surname from Old English.
A male given name.

Proper noun (2) capitalized: Creed

the Creed

The Apostles' Creed.
- He also repeated the Creed, but in a broken and stammering manner, for when he came to the words "I believe in the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting," he pronounced them in so hoarse and indistinct a voice that no one could rightly hear and understand him.1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume II, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 52

creed meaning in Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam

creed in Urdu

creed, sectarian belief: مذہب mazhab
creed: ایمان īmān

creed in Bengali

that which is believed: আকায়েদ akaẏed
reading or statement of belief that summarizes the faith it represents: আকায়েদ akaẏed

creed in Malayalam

മതധർമ്മം, തത്ത്വസംഹിത, മതവിശ്വാസം

More languagesFewer languages

creed in Kannada: ನಂಬಿಕೆಯ ನುಡಿ, ನಂಬಿಕೆ, ಮತ, ನಂಬಿಕೆಗಳು
creed in Punjabi: ਅਕ਼ੀਦਾ aqīdā
creed in Gujarati: ઈમાન īmān
creed in Arabic: عَقِيدَة ʕaqīda
creed in Persian: عقیده 'aqide, باور bâvar
creed in Vietnamese: tín điều

Examples of creed in a sentence

Oh! who young Leila's glance could read / And keep that portion of his creed / Which saith, that woman is but dust, / A soulless toy for tyrant's lust?1813, Lord Byron, The Giaour, a Fragment of a Turkish Tale, London: […] T[homas] Davison, […], for John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 12:
He killed our tribes, he killed our creed / He took our game for his own need1982 February 12, Steve Harris, “Run to the Hills”, performed by Iron Maiden:
The Edhi Foundation is unusual in its ignoring of caste, creed, religion and sect.2017 April 6, Samira Shackle, “On the frontline with Karachi’s ambulance drivers”, in The Guardian, London, archived from the original on...
The Apostles' Creed was not the only creed to come into existence in the period of the early church.2015, Alister [Edgar] McGrath, “Getting the Most out of Apostles’ Creed”, in Apostles’ Creed (LifeGuide Bible Studies), Downers Grove...

All 20 example sentences with creed

Synonyms of creed

dogma

Forms of creed

Noun
plural	creeds
Verb
third-person singular present	creeds
present participle	creeding
past participle	creeded
past	creeded
Proper noun
plural	Creeds

Plural of creed: creeds

Origin of creed

From Middle English crede, from Old English crēda, crēdo, from Latin crēdō (“to believe”), from Proto-Italic *krezdō, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱréd-dʰeh₁-ti (“to trust, believe”, literally “to place one's heart”), a compound phrase of the oblique case form of *ḱḗr (“heart”). Creed is cognate with Old Irish creitid (“to believe”), Sanskrit श्रद्दधाति (śráddadhāti, “to have faith or faithfulness, to have belief or confidence, believe”).

From the Old English personal name Creoda.

Ellipsis of Apostles' Creed.

Words formed from creed

Phrases with creed

Words that rhyme with creed

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about creed

What does creed mean?: Creed means that which is believed; accepted doctrine, especially religious doctrine; a particular set of beliefs; any summary of principles or opinions professed or adhered to.
What is creed in Hindi?: Creed in Hindi is क़ौम (qaum). See Creed meaning in Hindi.
How do you use creed in a sentence?: Oh! who young Leila's glance could read / And keep that portion of his creed / Which saith, that woman is but dust, / A soulless toy for tyrant's lust?
What part of speech is creed?: Creed can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce creed?: Creed is pronounced /kɹiːd/ (UK).
What is the plural of creed?: The plural of creed is creeds.

Words near creed in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-creed.ogg, en-au-creed.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-creed.wav.

Cite this entry: “creed.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/creed. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.