The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
n. The act of accrediting or the state of being accredited, especially the granting of approval to an institution of learning by an official review board after the school has met specific requirements.
n. The granting of approval to an institution of higher learning by an official review board after the school has met certain requirements.
the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
n. The act of accrediting.
The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
n. The act of accrediting, or the state of being accredited.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
n. the act of granting credit or recognition (especially with respect to educational institution that maintains suitable standards)
Word Usage
"His statement about "some 1850 universities and high schools which are to be fined or closed because of fraudulent claims for accreditation" is just wrong."