believe
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /bɪˈliːv/
ipa: /bɪˈliv/
ipa: /bi-/
ipa: /bə-/
homophone: beleave
rhymes: -iːv
Forms: form: believes
form: believing
form: believed
form: believed
form: no-table-tags
form: glossary
form: believe
form: believe
form: believed
form: believe
form: believest
form: believed
form: believedst
form: believes
form: believeth
form: believed
form: believe
form: believed
form: believe
form: believed
form: believe
form: -
form: believing
form: believed
form: beleeve
Etymology: From Middle English beleven, bileven, from Old English belīefan (“to believe”), from Proto-West Germanic *bilaubijan (“to believe”), equivalent to be- + leave (“to give leave or permission to, permit, allow, grant”). Cognate with Scots beleve (“to believe”), Middle Low German belö̂ven (“to believe”), Middle High German belouben (“to believe”).
A related term in Old English was ġelīefan (“to be dear to; believe, trust”), from Proto-West Germanic *galaubijan (“to have faith, believe”), from Proto-Germanic *galaubijaną. Compare also Old English ġelēafa (“belief, faith, confidence, trust”), Old English lēof ("dear, valued, beloved, pleasant, agreeable" > English lief). Related also to North Frisian leauwjen (“to believe”), West Frisian leauwe (“to believe”), Dutch geloven (“to believe”), German glauben (“to believe”), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌱𐌾𐌰𐌽 (galaubjan, “to hold dear, valuable, or satisfactory, approve of, believe”).
The prepositionally transitive senses with in are a semantic loan from Latin crēdō in aliquem / aliquid.
Senses: examples: text: If you believe the numbers, you'll agree we need change.
text: I believe there are faeries.
text: FOꝛaſmuch as many haue taken in hande to ſet fooꝛth in oꝛder a declaration of thoſe things which are most ſurely beleeued among vs[…]
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 1:1:
text: Many persons believe that the so-called "dollar of the daddies," weighing 412½ grains (nine tenths fine), having a ratio to gold of "16 to 1" in value when first coined, was the original dollar of the Constitution.
ref: 1898 September 23, Alexander E. Outerbridge Jr., “Curiosities of American Coinage”, in Popular Science Monthly, volume 53, D. Appleton & Company, page 601:
text: [Isaac Newton] was obsessed with alchemy. He spent hours copying alchemical recipes and trying to replicate them in his laboratory. He believed that the Bible contained numerological codes.
ref: 2014 June 21, “Magician’s brain”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8892:
synonyms: understand
feel
see
glosses: To accept as true, particularly without absolute certainty (i.e., as opposed to knowing).
examples: text: Why did I ever believe you?
text: BEloued, beleeue not euery ſpirit, but trie the ſpirits, whether they are of God: becauſe many falſe prophets are gone out into the woꝛld.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 John 4:1:
synonyms: word: trust
word: Adam and Eve
glosses: To accept that someone is telling the truth.
examples: text: After that night in the church, I believed.
text: [N]ow ſuch a liue vngodly, vvithout a care of doing the wil of the Lord (though they profeſſe him in their mouths, yea though they beleeue and acknowledge all the Articles of the Creed, yea haue knowledge of the Scripturs) yet if they liue vngodly, they deny God, and therefore ſhal be denied, […]
ref: 1604, Jeremy Corderoy, A Short Dialogve, wherein is Proved, that No Man can be Saved without Good VVorkes, 2nd edition, Oxford: Printed by Ioseph Barnes, and are to be sold in Paules Church-yard at the signe of the Crowne, by Simon Waterson, →OCLC, page 40:
glosses: To have religious faith; to believe in a greater truth.
examples: text: Do you think this is good? —Hmm, I believe it's okay.
text: “Some people believe him charismatic,” Van Assen told me. “I am less sensitive to it.”
ref: 2017 February 1, Stephen Buranyi, quoting Marcel van Assen, “The high-tech war on science fraud”, in The Guardian:
text: He believes that self-improvement and its growing popularity are symptoms of what he calls individualism.
ref: 2019 May 2, Nina Avramova, “When you should use self-help programs and when to skip them”, in CNN:
synonyms: hold
glosses: To opine, think, reckon.
examples: text: Do you believe in God / the Easter Bunny / ghosts?
text: Since I don't believe in reincarnation, I believe that the only way to eliminate suffering is to die.
info_templates: extra_data: words: in
expansion: [with in]
glosses: [with in]
To ascribe existence to.
examples: text: I don't believe in sex before marriage.
text: I don't believe in making my bed.
text: I'm happy to tell you there is very little in this world that I believe in.
ref: 1997, George Carlin, “Preface”, in Brain Droppings, New York: Hyperion Books, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page xi:
text: The couple is one of the celebrities who believed in open relationships.
ref: 2017 June 23, “Is spokes model Cindy Margolis married or single after her divorce with Guy Starkman, Know her current affairs”, in Hitberry.com:
info_templates: extra_data: words: in
expansion: [with in]
glosses: [with in]
To believe that (something) is right or desirable.
examples: text: I believe in you, man! You can do it!
text: I believe in America. America has made my fortune and I raised my daughter in the American fashion.
ref: 1972 March 14, Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather, spoken by Bonasera (Salvatore Corsitto), Paramount Pictures:
text: Ambassador Udina: The other species are scared. They've never faced anything like this before and they don't know what to do. They want us to step forward. They believe in humanity because of you.
Ambassador Udina: Your ruthless pursuit of Saren and the geth, your defiance of the Council -- that's what humans are capable of! That's how we can defeat the Reapers!
Ambassador Udina: The others will follow us, Shepard. They know we're their only hope. We will have a human Council with a human Chairman.
ref: 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Citadel:
info_templates: extra_data: words: in
expansion: [with in]
glosses: [with in]
To have confidence in the ability or power of.
Derived terms: believability
believable
believe it or not
believe me
believe one's ears
believe one's eyes
believe one's own eyes
believer
believe you me
believing is seeing
believingly
be unable to believe one's eyes
disbelieve
do you believe in God
forebelieve
I'll believe it when I see it
make believe
make-believe
misbelieve
nonbelieving
rebelieve
seeing is believing
unbelievable
unbelieve
unbelieved
unbeliever
would you believe
would you believe it
you better believe it
you'd better believe it
Related terms: belief
disbelief