credence

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
credence /ˈkriːd(ə)ns/

▶noun

• 1 belief in or acceptance of something as true.

  ■ the likelihood of something being true; plausibility.

• 2 a small side table, shelf, or niche in a church for holding the elements of the Eucharist before they are consecrated.

– origin ME: via OFr. from med. L. credentia, from L. credent-, credere ‘believe’.