belief
NOUN:
1. something believed; an opinion or conviction:
a belief that the earth is flat.
2. confidence in the truth or existence of something not immediately susceptible to rigorous proof:
a statement unworthy of belief.
3. confidence; faith; trust:
a child's belief in his parents.
4. confidence; faith; trust:
a child's belief in his parents.
5. a principle, proposition, idea, etc, accepted as true.
6. opinion; conviction.
7. religious faith.
8. trust or confidence, as in a person or a person's abilities, probity, etc.
9. a state or habit of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thing:
her belief in God // a belief in democracy // I bought the table in the belief that it was an antique. // contrary to popular belief.
10. something that is accepted, considered to be true, or held as an opinion; something believed:
an individual's religious or political beliefs;
—especially, a tenet or body of tenets held by a group:
the beliefs of the Catholic Church.
11. conviction of the truth of some statement or the reality of some being or phenomenon especially when based on examination of evidence:
belief in the validity of scientific statements.
Examples:
There is growing belief that these policies will not succeed. // He gets angry if anyone challenges his religious beliefs.
Origin:
1125–75; earlier bile(e)ve (noun use of v.); replacing Middle English bileave, equivalent to bi- be- + leave; compare Old English gelēafa (cognate with Dutch geloof, German Glaube; akin to Gothic galaubeins). —Dictionary.com. // First Known Use of belief: 12th century. Middle English beleave, probably alteration of Old English gelēafa, from ge-, associative prefix + lēafa; akin to Old English lȳfan — more at believe. —Merriam-Webster.
Sources: 1, 2.
Updated: 9 July 2020 {5:23 PM}
1. something believed; an opinion or conviction:
a belief that the earth is flat.
2. confidence in the truth or existence of something not immediately susceptible to rigorous proof:
a statement unworthy of belief.
3. confidence; faith; trust:
a child's belief in his parents.
4. confidence; faith; trust:
a child's belief in his parents.
5. a principle, proposition, idea, etc, accepted as true.
6. opinion; conviction.
7. religious faith.
8. trust or confidence, as in a person or a person's abilities, probity, etc.
9. a state or habit of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thing:
her belief in God // a belief in democracy // I bought the table in the belief that it was an antique. // contrary to popular belief.
10. something that is accepted, considered to be true, or held as an opinion; something believed:
an individual's religious or political beliefs;
—especially, a tenet or body of tenets held by a group:
the beliefs of the Catholic Church.
11. conviction of the truth of some statement or the reality of some being or phenomenon especially when based on examination of evidence:
belief in the validity of scientific statements.
Examples:
There is growing belief that these policies will not succeed. // He gets angry if anyone challenges his religious beliefs.
Origin:
1125–75; earlier bile(e)ve (noun use of v.); replacing Middle English bileave, equivalent to bi- be- + leave; compare Old English gelēafa (cognate with Dutch geloof, German Glaube; akin to Gothic galaubeins). —Dictionary.com. // First Known Use of belief: 12th century. Middle English beleave, probably alteration of Old English gelēafa, from ge-, associative prefix + lēafa; akin to Old English lȳfan — more at believe. —Merriam-Webster.
Sources: 1, 2.
Updated: 9 July 2020 {5:23 PM}