1. A buffet, sideboard, or bookcase, especially one without legs.
2. A piece of office furniture having a long flat top and usually file drawers.

[Italian, from Medieval Latin crēdentia, trust (possibly from the practice of placing food and drink on a sideboard to be tasted by a servant before being served to ensure that it contained no poison). See credence.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.