belief

English Online Dictionary. What means belief‎? What does belief mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English bileve, from Old English lēafa, from Proto-West Germanic *laubu from Proto-Germanic *laubō. Compare German Glaube (“faith, belief”).

The replacement of final /v/ with /f/ is due to the analogy of noun-verb pairs with /f/ in the noun but /v/ in the verb, creating a pair belief : believe on the model of e.g. grief : grieve or proof : prove.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɪˈliːf/, /bəˈliːf/
• Rhymes: -iːf
• Hyphenation: be‧lief

Noun

belief (countable and uncountable, plural beliefs)

1. Mental acceptance of a claim as true.
2. Faith or trust in the reality of something; often based upon one's own reasoning, trust in a claim, desire of actuality, and/or evidence considered.

3. (countable) Something believed.

4. (uncountable) The quality or state of believing.

5. (uncountable) Religious faith.

6. (in the plural) One's religious or moral convictions.

Derived terms

Related terms

• believe

Translations

Anagrams

• befile, belfie

Dutch

Pronunciation

Verb

belief

1. imperative of believen

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [bəˈliːf]
• Hyphenation: be‧lief

Verb

belief

1. first/third-person singular preterite of belaufen