belief

Pronunciation

• IPA: /bɪˈliːf/, /bəˈliːf/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English bileave, inherited from Old English geleafa (“belief, faith”), with be- put for ge- on the model of the verb belīfan “to believe”.^[2][3][4] The Old English word is from West Germanic *ga-laubōn “to hold dear, trust”,^[2] the source also of German Glaube,^[2][3] from Proto-Indo-European *leubh- (“to care, desire, love”).^[2] The final -f was set apart from the -v- of believe in the 15th century, like grief and grieve.^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Trust or confidence in a person or thing, faith in a religion: about 1175 in the OED, the late 12th century in Etymonline.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

A creed, the doctrines of a religion, is from about 1175 in the OED, about 1200 in Etymonline.^[5][2] Acceptance that a statement is true, without full knowledge, is from the 1530s (1533 in the OED),^[2][5] and the general sense “something believed” is by 1714.^[2] Belief once meant trust in God, while faith meant loyalty based on a promise or duty.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1175 – trust, faith.^[5]
• c. 1175 – a creed.^[5]
• 1533 – acceptance as true.^[5]
• 1714 – that which is believed.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The feeling that something is true or exists.
2. Trust or confidence in someone or something.
3. Something that is believed, such as a principle of a religion.
4. An opinion.

Word family

• disbelief
• unbelief
• misbelief

Related words

• believe
• lief
• love

Usage notes

Belief, credence, credit and faith all mean accepting something as true, but faith often implies certainty even without evidence, while credence and credit stress acceptance on the strength of evidence or authority.^[6]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin