believe

Pronunciation

• IPA: /bɪˈliːv/, /bə-/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English bileven, later beleven,^[2][3] inherited from Old English belȳfan or belēfan (“to have faith in, believe”),^[2][4] which replaced older gelēfan (Mercian) and gelȳfan (West Saxon) by a change of prefix from ge- to be-.^[5][6][3] These come from Proto-Germanic *ga-laubjan (“to believe”),^[2] perhaps literally “to hold dear, find satisfactory”,^[2][5] and are cognate with Old Saxon gilōbian, Dutch geloven, Old High German gilouben (modern German glauben) and Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌱𐌾𐌰𐌽 (galaubjan).^[3][2] The root is Proto-Indo-European *leubh- (“to care, desire, love”), the source also of love, lief and belief.^[2][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To have faith or confidence in a person: Old English belȳfan is recorded about 1000, in the works of Ælfric.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

“To be persuaded of the truth of (a doctrine or religion)” is mid-13th century,^[2] “to think, suppose” about 1300, and “to accept as true on someone's authority or testimony” early 14th century.^[2] Barnhart's Middle English examples include bileven in King Horn (1225), beleven in Chaucer (about 1386) and believen in Gower (before 1393).^[3] The spelling beleeve was usual until the 17th century, when it changed, perhaps under the influence of relieve.^[2] Believe on, more common than believe in during the 16th century, now survives mainly in theology.^[2] Believe it or not is attested by 1874 and became the title of Robert Ripley's newspaper cartoon in 1918,^[2] and emphatic you better believe dates from 1854.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1000 – Old English belȳfan (Ælfric).^[3]
• 1225 – bileven (King Horn).^[3]
• mid-13th century – to be persuaded of the truth of a doctrine.^[2]
• c. 1300 – to think, suppose.^[2]
• early 14th century – to accept as true on testimony.^[2]
• c. 1386 – beleven (Chaucer).^[3]
• before 1393 – believen (Gower).^[3]
• 1854 – you better believe.^[2]
• 1874 – believe it or not.^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To accept as true or real: I believe his story.
2. To accept the word of (a person) as true.
3. To think or suppose: I believe she has left.
4. believe in: to be convinced of the existence or truth of: believe in ghosts.
5. To have religious faith.
6. believe in: to have confidence in the worth of: believe in hard work.

Word family

• believer
• believability
• believable
• believably
• believingly
• misbelieve
• disbelieve
• unbelievable

Related words

• belief
• disbelief
• lief
• love
• make-believe

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 l m n o p q r Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press