belief

From Middle English bileve, from Old English lēafa, from Proto-West Germanic *laubu from Proto-Germanic *laubō. Compare German Glaube (“faith, belief”).

The replacement of final /v/ with /f/ is due to the analogy of noun-verb pairs with /f/ in the noun but /v/ in the verb, creating a pair belief : believe on the model of e.g. grief : grieve or proof : prove.

• IPA^(key): /bɪˈliːf/, /bəˈliːf/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːf
• Hyphenation: be‧lief

belief (countable and uncountable, plural beliefs)

1. Mental acceptance of a claim as true.

   It's my belief that the thief is somebody known to us.

   • 2013 December 6, George Monbiot, “Why I'm eating my words on veganism – again”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 26, page 48:

     The belief that there is no conflict between [livestock] farming and arable production also seems to be unfounded: by preventing the growth of trees and other deep vegetation in the hills and by compacting the soil, grazing animals cause a cycle of flash floods and drought, sporadically drowning good land downstream and reducing the supply of irrigation water.

2. Faith or trust in the reality of something; often based upon one's own reasoning, trust in a claim, desire of actuality, and/or evidence considered.

   My belief is that there is a bear in the woods. Bill said he saw one.

   Based on this data, it is our belief that X does not occur.

3. (countable) Something believed.

   The ancient people have a belief in many deities.

4. (uncountable) The quality or state of believing.

   My belief that it will rain tomorrow is strong.

5. (uncountable) Religious faith.

   She often said it was her belief that carried her through the hard times.

6. (in the plural) One's religious or moral convictions.

   I can't do that. It's against my beliefs.

   • 2025 July 28, Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, “Trump administration allows federal workers to promote religious beliefs”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     The Trump administration will allow federal workers to promote their religious beliefs to colleagues, display religious items at work and pray together or individually, according to a memorandum issued Monday by the Office of Personnel Management. […] Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 forbids employers from discriminating based on religion. They are required to make reasonable accommodations for their employees’ religious practices and beliefs unless it would be an “undue hardship” to do so.

• believe

• befile, belfie

• Audio:

  (file)

belief

1. imperative of believen

• IPA^(key): [bəˈliːf]

• Audio (Germany):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: be‧lief

belief

1. first/third-person singular preterite of belaufen