A debit takes money out of an account, while a credit adds money in, though credit also covers borrowing and praise. If your statement shows an unexpected £40 gone, that is a debit; a refund landing back in your account a few days later is a credit.
The core difference
A debit removes money from an account, while a credit adds money to it, or grants time to pay, or gives someone recognition.
- debit — money taken out of an account, or the record of that withdrawal: check your recent debits before you query the balance.
- credit — an arrangement allowing a buyer to pay later, or money added to an account: they bought the sofa on credit and paid it off over a year.
How to tell them apart
On a bank statement, the direction is the anchor: a debit goes out, a credit comes in. A gym membership debits your card each month, while a refund is credited back to it.
Credit carries extra senses that debit does not share, which is where confusion can creep in. It can mean recognition for work done, as in she deserves credit for finishing the project on time, or it can mean borrowing, as in buying something on credit. Both of these trace back to the same Latin root, credere, meaning to believe, since credit always involves trusting that something, whether praise or a debt, is rightly due.
