Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Good faith; sincerity.
  • noun Information that serves to guarantee a person's good faith, standing, and reputation; authentic credentials.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Good faith; fair dealing. See bona fide.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • Good faith; honesty; freedom from fraud or deception.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun sincerity, good faith
  • noun credentials that authenticate a person's standing or reputation

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin bona fidēs, good faith : bona, feminine of bonus, good + fidēs, faith.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Latin bona, nominative feminine singular of bonus ("good"), + fidēs ("faith").

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Examples

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Comments

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  • The term "bona fides" (L. bɒnā fĭdēs = good faith or trust) is singular. The plural of this term is bonae fides.

    The plural of "bona fide" (ablative case of a fem. 5th declension noun), which literally means "with good faith," is "bonis fidebus." See bona fide.

    December 4, 2011