Letter of Credit
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
A letter written by a merchant or banker to another, requesting him to credit the bearer with certain sums of money. Circular Notes are letters of credit carried by travellers.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Letter of Credit” mean?
A letter written by a merchant or banker to another, requesting him to credit the bearer with certain sums of money. Circular Notes are letters of credit carried by travellers.
Is “Letter of Credit” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.