Etymograph

English

credulous

Credulous comes from Latin crēdulus ‘that easily believes a thing, credulous’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱred-dʰeh₁-ti.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱred-dʰeh₁-ti1‘to place one's heart, i.e. to trust, believe’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*krezðō1‘to believe’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrēdō2‘to believe’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrēdulus2‘that easily believes a thing, credulous’
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1604–1626credulous2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin credo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English credulous
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1604–1626, doubtfully attributed to Francis Beaumon, The Faithful Friends: “'Twas he possess'd me with your credulous death”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱred-dʰeh₁-tiWiktionary, Latin credo‘to place one's heart, i.e. to trust, believe’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*krezðōWiktionary, Latin credo‘to believe’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrēdōWiktionary, English credulous‘to believe’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcrēdulusWiktionary, English credulous‘that easily believes a thing, credulous’
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1604–1626credulousWiktionary, English credulous. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1604–1626, doubtfully attributed to Francis Beaumon, The Faithful Friends: “'Twas he possess'd me with your credulous death”

The story

Originated in 1576, borrowed from Latin crēdulus (‘that easily believes a thing, credulous’), from crēdō (‘to believe’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Italic *krezðō ‘to believe’

credited, creditor, accredit, 7 more

through Latin crēdō ‘to believe’

credit, incredible, credibility, credible, creed, credence, credo, 10 more

through Latin crēdulus ‘that easily believes a thing, credulous’

incredulity, 2 more

Today it means

adj Excessively ready to believe things; gullible.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “credulous”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin credo. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱred-dʰeh₁-ti / credulous

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