'credit-driven' originates from the combination of 'credit' and 'driven', where 'credit' refers to the provision of money, goods, or services with the expectation of future payment, and 'driven' means propelled or motivated by a particular factor.

'credit' comes from the Latin word 'creditum', meaning 'a loan', and 'driven' is the past participle of 'drive', from Old English 'drīfan'.

Initially, 'credit' referred to trust in someone's ability to pay, and 'driven' meant being propelled. Together, they now describe something influenced by credit availability.