belief

[bih-leef]

noun

1. something believed; an opinion or conviction.

   a belief that the earth is flat.

   Synonyms: persuasion, conclusion, tenet, view

2. confidence in the truth or existence of something not immediately susceptible to rigorous proof.

   a statement unworthy of belief.

   Synonyms: assurance

3. confidence; faith; trust.

   a child's belief in his parents.

4. a religious tenet or tenets; religious creed or faith.

   the Christian belief.

   Synonyms: dogma, doctrine

belief

/ bɪˈliːf /

noun

1. a principle, proposition, idea, etc, accepted as true

2. opinion; conviction

3. religious faith

4. trust or confidence, as in a person or a person's abilities, probity, etc

Other Word Forms

• prebelief noun
• superbelief noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of belief¹

First recorded in 1125–75; earlier bile(e)ve (noun use of verb); replacing Middle English bileave, equivalent to bi- be- + leave (probably from Old English -lēafa “belief”); cognate with Dutch geloof, German Glaube; akin to Gothic galaubeins

Synonym Study

Belief, certainty, 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.

Example Sentences

The scientist, who has dedicated more than 15 years to green tea research, explains that her initial motivation came from curiosity about the truth behind the popular belief that the drink aids in weight loss.

Read more on Science Daily

The King has appeared in a behind-the-scenes BBC film about the Coronation, but this will be a more unusual approach in looking at his beliefs.

Read more on BBC

It takes years and years of slowly letting go of different concepts and beliefs — I was falling down Reddit holes and watching Rhett & Link deconstruction videos.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Partly out of an authentic belief that you've got to think things through before you announce them, so she talked about policies, not announcements, detail, not just headlines.

Read more on BBC

Last summer, Alito authored a decision arguing that parents had an expansive right to block children from accessing books in public schools that conflict with the their anti-LGBTQ beliefs.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• acceptance 
• assumption 
• conclusion 
• confidence 
• conviction 
• expectation 
• faith 
• feeling 
• hope 
• idea 
• judgment 
• knowledge 
• notion 
• opinion 
• position 
• suspicion 
• theory 
• thinking 
• trust 
• understanding