belief

Meaning

1. (countable, uncountable) Mental acceptance of a claim as true.
2. (countable, uncountable) 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. (countable, in-plural, uncountable) One's religious or moral convictions.

Synonyms

faith

creed

opinion

conviction

trust

confidence

religion

view

tenet

doctrine

credence

notion

reliance

idea

💡

credit

thought

💭

feeling

supposition

ideology

persuasion

impression

article of faith

credo

hope

conjecture

expectation

attitude

position

acceptance

dependence

concept

denomination

viewpoint

believe

godliness

beliefs

presumption

devotion

decision

conceit

customs

🛃

cult

commitment

assumption

calculation

hypothesis

hold

bigot

apprehension

acumen

Translations

croyance

Glaube

fede

foi

geloof

creencia

crença

credenza

Überzeugung

conviction

fe

δοξασία

πίστη

creença

Pronounced as (IPA)

/bɪˈliːf/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: bileve

Cognate with German: Glaube

In summary

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.