/ dɪsˈkredɪt; NAmE / verb , noun
■ verb [ vn ]
1.
to make people stop respecting sb/sth :
The photos were deliberately taken to discredit the President.
a discredited government / policy
2.
to make people stop believing that sth is true; to make sth appear unlikely to be true :
These theories are now largely discredited among linguists.
■ noun
[ U ] ( formal ) damage to sb's reputation; loss of respect :
Violent football fans bring discredit on the teams they support.
Britain, to its discredit , did not speak out against these atrocities.
—compare credit noun (7)
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WORD ORIGIN
mid 16th cent.: from dis- (expressing reversal) + credit , on the pattern of Italian (di)scredito (noun), (di)screditare (verb), and French discrédit (noun), discréditer (verb).