belief
Synonyms:
assurance, conclusion, credence, credit, doctrine, dogma, faith, persuasion, tenet, view.
Related Words:
acceptance, assumption, confidence, conviction, expectation, feeling, hope, idea, judgment, knowledge, notion, opinion, position, suspicion, theory, thinking, trust, understanding.
Antonyms:
disbelief, discredit, doubt, nonbelief, unbelief.
Synonym Study 1 (Dictionary.com):
Belief, certainty, and conviction refer to acceptance of, or confidence in, an alleged fact or body of facts as true or right without positive knowledge or proof.
Belief is such acceptance in general:
belief in astrology.
Certainty indicates unquestioning belief and positiveness in one's own mind that something is true:
I know this for a certainty.
Conviction is settled, profound, or earnest belief that something is right:
a conviction that a decision is just.
Synonym Study 2 (Merriam-Webster):
Belief, faith, credence, and credit mean assent to the truth of something offered for acceptance.
Belief may or may not imply certitude in the believer:
my belief that I had caught all the errors.
Faith almost always implies certitude even where there is no evidence or proof:
an unshakable faith in God.
Credence suggests intellectual assent without implying anything about grounds for assent:
a theory now given credence by scientists.
Credit may imply assent on grounds other than direct proof:
gave full credit to the statement of a reputable witness.
Synonym Study 3 (Merriam-Webster):
Opinion, view, belief, conviction, persuasion, sentiment mean a judgment one holds as true.
Opinion implies a conclusion thought out yet open to dispute:
each expert seemed to have a different opinion.
View suggests a subjective opinion:
very assertive in stating his views.
Belief implies often deliberate acceptance and intellectual assent:
a firm belief in her party's platform.
Conviction applies to a firmly and seriously held belief:
the conviction that animal life is as sacred as human.
Persuasion suggests a belief grounded on assurance (as by evidence) of its truth:
was of the persuasion that everything changes.
Sentiment suggests a settled opinion reflective of one's feelings:
her feminist sentiments are well-known.
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}
assurance, conclusion, credence, credit, doctrine, dogma, faith, persuasion, tenet, view.
Related Words:
acceptance, assumption, confidence, conviction, expectation, feeling, hope, idea, judgment, knowledge, notion, opinion, position, suspicion, theory, thinking, trust, understanding.
Antonyms:
disbelief, discredit, doubt, nonbelief, unbelief.
Synonym Study 1 (Dictionary.com):
Belief, certainty, and conviction refer to acceptance of, or confidence in, an alleged fact or body of facts as true or right without positive knowledge or proof.
Belief is such acceptance in general:
belief in astrology.
Certainty indicates unquestioning belief and positiveness in one's own mind that something is true:
I know this for a certainty.
Conviction is settled, profound, or earnest belief that something is right:
a conviction that a decision is just.
Synonym Study 2 (Merriam-Webster):
Belief, faith, credence, and credit mean assent to the truth of something offered for acceptance.
Belief may or may not imply certitude in the believer:
my belief that I had caught all the errors.
Faith almost always implies certitude even where there is no evidence or proof:
an unshakable faith in God.
Credence suggests intellectual assent without implying anything about grounds for assent:
a theory now given credence by scientists.
Credit may imply assent on grounds other than direct proof:
gave full credit to the statement of a reputable witness.
Synonym Study 3 (Merriam-Webster):
Opinion, view, belief, conviction, persuasion, sentiment mean a judgment one holds as true.
Opinion implies a conclusion thought out yet open to dispute:
each expert seemed to have a different opinion.
View suggests a subjective opinion:
very assertive in stating his views.
Belief implies often deliberate acceptance and intellectual assent:
a firm belief in her party's platform.
Conviction applies to a firmly and seriously held belief:
the conviction that animal life is as sacred as human.
Persuasion suggests a belief grounded on assurance (as by evidence) of its truth:
was of the persuasion that everything changes.
Sentiment suggests a settled opinion reflective of one's feelings:
her feminist sentiments are well-known.
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}