Definitions for belief
bɪˈlifbe·lief

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:2.0 / 3 votes

1. beliefnoun

   any cognitive content held as true

2. impression, feeling, belief, notion, opinionnoun

   a vague idea in which some confidence is placed

   "his impression of her was favorable"; "what are your feelings about the crisis?"; "it strengthened my belief in his sincerity"; "I had a feeling that she was lying"

WiktionaryRate this definition:1.7 / 3 votes

1. beliefnoun

   Mental acceptance of a claim as truth regardless of supporting or contrary empirical evidence.

2. beliefnoun

   Something believed.

   The ancient people have a belief in many deities.

3. beliefnoun

   The quality or state of believing.

   My belief that it will rain tomorrow is strong.

4. beliefnoun

   Religious faith.

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

5. beliefnoun

   One's religious or moral convictions.

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

6. Etymology: from leafa.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Beliefnoun

   Etymology: from believe.

   1. Credit given to something which we know not of ourselves, on account of the authority by which it is delivered.

   Those comforts that shall never cease,
   Future in hope, but present in belief. Henry Wotton.

   Faith is a firm belief of the whole word of God, of his gospel, commands, threats, and promises. William Wake, Prep. for Death.

   2. The theological virtue of faith, or firm confidence of the truths of religion.

   No man can attain belief by the bare contemplation of heaven and earth; for that they neither are sufficient to give us as much as the least spark of light concerning the very principal mysteries of our faith. Richard Hooker, b. v. § 22.

   3. Religion; the body of tenets held by the professors of faith.

   In the heat of general persecution, whereunto christian belief was subject upon the first promulgation, it much confirmed the weaker minds, when relation was made how God had been glorified through the sufferings of martyrs. Richard Hooker, b. v.

   4. Persuasion; opinion.

   He can, I know, but doubt to think he will;
   Yet hope would fain subscribe, and tempts belief. John Milton.

   All treaties are grounded upon the belief, that states will be found in their honour and observance of treaties. William Temple.

   5. The thing believed; the object of belief.

   Superstitious prophecies are not only the belief of fools, but the talk sometimes of wise men. Francis Bacon.

   6. Creed; a form containing the articles of faith.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Belief

   Belief was the second single from John Mayers 2006 album Continuum. The song features Ben Harper on guitar. Despite its success on the American adult album alternative chart and the South African Top 40, the song never had a music video. The song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for the 50th Annual Grammy Awards. The song is about the moral war around the world with people's beliefs and that one cannot keep the world under control to get every single person to believe just one thing.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. belief

   Belief is a mental attitude or acceptance that something is true or exists, often without proof or evidence. It can refer to the conviction in the truth or reality of a particular concept, thing, or statement, irrespective of whether it is based on factual knowledge, personal experiences, religious teachings, or societal norms. Beliefs can heavily influence attitudes, thoughts, and actions. They can be individual or shared as a part of cultural or social systems.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. Beliefnoun

   assent to a proposition or affirmation, or the acceptance of a fact, opinion, or assertion as real or true, without immediate personal knowledge; reliance upon word or testimony; partial or full assurance without positive knowledge or absolute certainty; persuasion; conviction; confidence; as, belief of a witness; the belief of our senses

2. Beliefnoun

   a persuasion of the truths of religion; faith

3. Beliefnoun

   the thing believed; the object of belief

4. Beliefnoun

   a tenet, or the body of tenets, held by the advocates of any class of views; doctrine; creed

WikidataRate this definition:3.0 / 2 votes

1. Belief

   Belief is the psychological state in which an individual holds a proposition or premise to be true. Dispositional and occurrent belief concerns the contextual activation of the belief into thoughts or ideas.

The Nuttall EncyclopediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Belief

   a word of various application, but properly definable as that which lies at the heart of a man or a nation's convictions, or is the heart and soul of all their thoughts and actions, "the thing a man does practically lay to heart, and know for certain concerning his vital relations to this mysterious universe, and his duty and destiny there."

Editors ContributionRate this definition:4.5 / 2 votes

1. belief

   A feeling, knowing or understanding we believe.

   It is their belief that they choose and have an eternal marriage and it is true.

   
   

   Submitted by MaryC on January 19, 2020  

Matched Categories

1. • Cognitive Content

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'belief' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1979

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'belief' in Written Corpus Frequency: #4498

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'belief' in Nouns Frequency: #623

Anagrams for belief »

1. befile

How to pronounce belief?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say belief in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of belief in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of belief in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3

Examples of belief in a Sentence

1. Michael Glassner:

   People are lulled into this sense of belief that we're not going to have a vigorous ground game, and it's just wrong, i think we're light years ahead of our competitors.

2. Matt Flynn:

   A lot of these other people. They are very, very nice people, but they scurry around with all of these various identities and so on, and I think that sets me apart as well, so my own belief is that we should get rid of the caucuses in the Democratic Party and come together again.

3. Pita Taufatofua:

   One of my biggest things is self-belief, i have extreme self belief in myself but it's not something that's unique to me.

4. Sigmund Freud:

   The expectation that every neurotic phenomenon can be cured may, I suspect, be derived from the layman's belief that the neuroses are something quite unnecessary which have no right whatever to exist. Whereas in fact they are severe, constitutionally fixed illnesses, which rarely restrict themselves to only a few attacks but persist as a rule over long periods throughout life.

5. Friedrich Nietzsche, "Human, All Too Human" page 87, #120.:

   If the belief [in Christianity] did not make us happy, it would not be believed: how little it must then be worth!

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=belief
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Belief
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=belief
4. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belief
5. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
6. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/belief
7. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=belief
8. ^ The Nuttall Encyclopedia
   https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/12342/pg12342-images.html#Belief