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• faith
  faith

  noun

  confidence or trust in a person or thing.
• Faith
  Faith

  noun

  a female given name.

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faith

¹ American  

[fayth] / feɪθ /

noun

• faiths
  plural

1. 

   confidence or trust in a person or thing.

   faith in another's ability.

2. belief that is not based on proof.

   He had faith that the hypothesis would be substantiated by fact.

3. belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion.

   the firm faith of the Pilgrims.

4. belief in anything, as a code of ethics, standards of merit, etc..

   to be of the same faith with someone concerning honesty.

5. a system of religious belief.

   the Christian faith;

   the Jewish faith.

6. the obligation of loyalty or fidelity to a person, promise, engagement, etc..

   Failure to appear would be breaking faith.

7. the observance of this obligation; fidelity to one's promise, oath, allegiance, etc..

   He was the only one who proved his faith during our recent troubles.

8. Christian Theology. the trust in God and in His promises as made through Christ and the Scriptures by which humans are justified or saved.

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idioms

1. in faith, in truth; indeed.

   In faith, he is a fine lad.

Faith ² American  

[fayth] / feɪθ /

noun

1. a female given name.

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faith British  

/ feɪθ /

noun

1. strong or unshakeable belief in something, esp without proof or evidence

2. a specific system of religious beliefs

   the Jewish faith

3. Christianity trust in God and in his actions and promises

4. a conviction of the truth of certain doctrines of religion, esp when this is not based on reason

5. complete confidence or trust in a person, remedy, etc

6. any set of firmly held principles or beliefs

7. allegiance or loyalty, as to a person or cause (esp in the phrases keep faith , break faith )

8. insincerity or dishonesty

9. honesty or sincerity, as of intention in business (esp in the phrase in good faith )

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interjection

1. archaic indeed; really (also in the phrases by my faith , in faith )

faith More Idioms  

1. see act of faith; in bad (good) faith; leap of faith; on faith; pin one's hopes (faith) on.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• multifaith
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• faiths
  plural

Etymology

Origin of faith

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English feith, from Anglo-French fed, Old French feid, feit, from Latin fidem, accusative of fidēs “trust,” derivative of fīdere “to trust”; see confide

Explanation

When you have faith, you trust or believe in something very strongly. Some people have faith in a higher being, others put their faith behind the Red Sox. This noun comes from the Old French word feid, meaning “faith, belief, trust, confidence, pledge.” It's often used when describing religion or the supernatural: people have faith in God, or actually refer to the religion they practice as their faith. Some choose to have the same amount of faith in a good friend or a well written recipe — anything that will come through for them in a time of need.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

faith Faith faiths

While I want to caution against putting our unquestioned trust and faith in any shiny new “magic bullet,” it is clear that, within certain parameters, specialized AI programs can detect early signs of disease.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026

It’s only right that the Dodgers retain faith in Yamamoto, but they should have learned that they shouldn’t have too much — sometimes he could use a challenge too.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta, who spent time as assistant to Guardiola at Manchester City prior to taking charge of the Gunners, echoed Maresca's faith in his former club's leadership team.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

"We remain committed to listening to our team members and engaging with our unions in good faith," the company said.

From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026

“I have faith in you. I know you’ll do what’s right and not what’s easy.”

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

“I’m nervous,” said Faith Woodland, a voter who attended a town hall event focused on abortion that Jackson’s campaign held in the seaside town of Bath.

From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2026

Kacey Musgraves headlined a tribute to late country legend Dolly Parton, while Teddy Swims, Sombr and Raye offered a soulful tribute to crooner George Michael, 40 years after the release of his landmark album "Faith."

From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026

The young victims were identified by the authorities as Curvontay Swygert, 16; Aahliya Garcia, 17; Faith Samuel, 18; Izabelle Salaz-Stephens, 19; and Monte Nunn, 29.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026

Faith has simply passed from one generation to the next, the way traditions do when no one tries to stop them.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026

They climbed into Ms. Banks’s van, nabbed Faith, who told them I might be at either Astelle’s or Fang’s.

From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx

"An example of the 'perfectly normal' coexistence" between the two faiths is "the Bolsonaro family," Pastor Gustavo Knauer told AFP, noting that unlike Flavio, Jair is Catholic.

From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026

People of many faiths make their way to the Muslim shrine Haji Ali.

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026

This includes excluding other major faiths including Judaism, one of the foundational belief systems of the traditional Christian faith.

From Salon ● Jun. 27, 2026

AI systems will in time be fully trained on the entire record of human history, consciousness, feeling and art and literature and faiths.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026

He was painfully aware that he lacked the ecclesiastical aplomb and savoir-faire that enabled so many of his colleagues in other faiths and sects to get ahead.

From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller

Related Words

• church
• conviction
• denomination
• doctrine
• principle
• religion
• sect
• teaching