credit
n. C / Un. an arrangement where you can buy something now and pay for it later. It also refers to the money you have in your bank account or a point you earn for finishing a school course.
n. a contractual agreement in which a borrower receives something of value now and agrees to repay the lender at a later date. Also refers to an entry on the right side of an account or a unit of study in an educational curriculum.
I bought the new sofa on credit.
The bank refused to extend her any more credit until she paid off her existing balance from last year.
While the student had earned enough credits to graduate, the university withheld his diploma until he settled the outstanding balance on his tuition account.
Borrowed from Middle French crédit (“belief, trust”), from Latin crēditum (“a loan, credit”), neuter of crēditus, past participle of crēdere (“to believe”). The verb is from the noun. Doublet of shraddha, creed.
Uncountable when referring to the system of deferred payment; countable when referring to academic units or specific accounting entries.
I pay with creditI buy on creditWhen referring to the financial arrangement of 'buy now, pay later', the preposition 'on' is used rather than 'with'.