unbelief

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English unbileve, also unbilefe and unbeleve,^[2][3][4] formed from Middle English un- + bileve,^[4][3] the modern form being un- and belief.^[5][6][7] Old English had ungelēafa in this sense,^[3][7][8] cognate with Old Saxon ungilōƀo and Old High German ungiloubo; compare Gothic 𐌿𐌽𐌲𐌰𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌱𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 (ungalaubeins).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lack of belief in matters of religion: about 1160, in the Hatton Gospels at Mark 16:14.^[5] Etymonline likewise has the mid 12th century,^[3] Dictionary.com 1125–75,^[9] and Merriam-Webster Unabridged the 12th century.^[4] The Middle English Dictionary's first quotation is from before 1200, in the Trinity Homilies, where someone blames the "un-bileue" of others.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word stayed within religion for its first five centuries, as a failure of faith or a disbelief in the truth of the Gospel.^[3][5] The King James Bible has it at Mark 9:24: "Lord, I beleeue, helpe thou mine vnbeliefe".^[6] The general sense of incredulity about anything is recorded from the 1640s;^[3] the OED's first quotation is from J. Taylor in 1649.^[5] From 1744, in Akenside's Pleasures of Imagination, it was also personified.^[5] Johnson (1755) gave both meanings, incredulity first, with Milton's "unbelief is blind", and infidelity or irreligion second, with Hooker.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 1160 – lack of religious belief.^[5]
• 1649 – lack of belief in general, incredulity.^[5][3]
• 1744 – personified.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Lack of belief or faith, especially in religious matters: His sermons were aimed at the unbelief of his age.^[11][4][6]
2. A withholding of belief in general; incredulity or skepticism: She stared at the bill in unbelief.^[4][12][5]

Related words

• believe
• disbelief
• misbelief

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
12. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins