believe - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Proto-Indo-European *h₁pi

Proto-Germanic *bi-

Proto-West Germanic *bi-

English believe

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”), Old Frisian bilēva (“to permit”), Middle Dutch beloven (“to believe, entrust”), 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”), Saterland Frisian leeuwe (“to believe”), West Frisian leauwe (“to believe”), Dutch geloven (“to believe”), German Low German glöven (“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.

believe (third-person singular simple present believes, present participle believing, simple past and past participle believed)

  1. (transitive) To accept as true, particularly without absolute certainty (i.e., as opposed to knowing).
    Synonyms: understand, feel, see
    If you believe the numbers, you'll agree we need change.
    I believe there are faeries.
    • 1898 September, Alexander E. Outerbridge Jr., “Curiosities of American Coinage”, in Popular Science Monthly‎[1], volume 53, D. Appleton & Company, page 601:
      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.
    • 2014 June 21, “Magician’s brain”, in The Economist‎[2], volume 411, number 8892, archived from the original on 9 January 2025:
      [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.
  2. (transitive) To accept that someone is telling the truth.
    Synonyms: trust, (Cockney rhyming slang) Adam and Eve
    Why did I ever believe you?
  3. (transitive) To have been persuaded to accept the factuality of something despite a lack of sufficient evidence therefore.
    1. To have been convinced by rational means to accept the truth of a proposition.
    2. To have been influenced by arational means (such as emotional experience, the imagination of need, etc.) to accept the truth of a proposition.
  4. (intransitive) To have religious faith; to believe in a greater truth.
    After that night in the church, I believed.
    • 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:
      [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, […]
  5. (transitive) To opine, think, reckon.
    Synonym: hold
    Do you think this is good? —Hmm, I believe it's okay.
    • 2017 February 1, Stephen Buranyi, quoting Marcel van Assen, “The high-tech war on science fraud”, in The Guardian‎[3], archived from the original on 21 February 2025:
      “Some people believe him charismatic,” Van Assen told me. “I am less sensitive to it.”
    • 2019 May 2, Nina Avramova, “When you should use self-help programs and when to skip them”, in CNN‎[4], archived from the original on 13 June 2025:
      He believes that self-improvement and its growing popularity are symptoms of what he calls individualism.
  6. [_with_ **in**]
    1. To ascribe existence to.
      Do you believe in God / the Easter Bunny / ghosts?
      Since I don't believe in reincarnation, I believe that the only way to eliminate suffering is to die.
    2. To believe that (something) is right or desirable.
      I don't believe in sex before marriage.
      I don't believe in making my bed.
      • 2017 June 23, “Is spokes model Cindy Margolis married or single after her divorce with Guy Starkman, Know her current affairs”, in Hitberry.com‎[6], archived from the original on 26 April 2025:
        The couple is one of the celebrities who believed in open relationships.
    3. To have confidence in the ability or power of.
      I believe in you, man! You can do it!
      • 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Citadel:
        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.

to accept that someone is telling the truth (object: person)

to accept as true

to consider likely

to have religious faith; to believe in a greater truth

to ascribe existence to

believe

  1. (dated or formal) singular present subjunctive of believen

believe

  1. (MS. Fairfax 3 or Late Middle English) alternative form of bileve