credo

[kree-doh, krey-] /ˈkri doʊ, ˈkreɪ-/

noun, plural credos.

(often initial capital letter) the Apostles' Creed or the Nicene Creed.

(often initial capital letter) a musical setting of the creed, usually of the Nicene Creed.

any creed or formula of belief.

Origin

1150-1200; Middle English < Latin: literally, I believe; first word of the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds in Latin

Synonyms

3. doctrine, tenet, philosophy.

Examples from the web for credo

In the seamy world of jailhouse informers, treachery has long been their credo and favors from jailers their reward.
Yet he seems quite convinced that the expansionist credo he once heard from an extremist settler is also, secretly, state policy.
These theorists' credo is that technology already threatens our age-old notions of privacy.
The credo is unclear about what happens when there is a conflict between responsible action and long-term profit.
Some claim a credo can help to galvanise an electorate bored by consensual centrism.
His criticism is a kind of credo for the modern world.
Use your imagination, don't recite your business school credo.
Staying in power is the party's only credo now that revolution has been jettisoned.
Yet their credo of anti-nationalism carries risks too.
Their socialist credo is: businessmen are greedy, profit is evil, wealth is always ill gotten and must be redistributed.

British Dictionary definitions for credo

credo

/ˈkriːdəʊ; ˈkreɪ-/

noun (pl) -dos

any formal or authorized statement of beliefs, principles, or opinions

Credo

/ˈkriːdəʊ; ˈkreɪ-/

noun (pl) -dos

the Apostles' Creed or the Nicene Creed

a musical setting of the Creed

Word Origin

C12: from Latin, literally: I believe; first word of the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds

Word Origin and History for credo

late 12c., from Latin, literally "I believe," first word of the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds, first person singular present indicative of credere "to believe," perhaps from PIE compound *kerd-dhe- "to believe," literally "to put one's heart" (cf. Old Irish cretim, Irish creidim, Welsh credu "I believe," Sanskrit śrad-dhā- "faith"). The nativized form is creed. General sense of "formula or statement of belief" is from 1580s.