Belief
Pronunciation
- IPA: /bɪˈliËf/
- Rhymes: -iËf
- Hyphenation: be + lief
Origin
From Middle English, from Old English lēafa.
Full definition of belief
Noun
belief
(plural beliefs)- Mental acceptance of a claim as likely true.Her belief is that this is/is not the case.
- 2013-12-06, George Monbiot, Why I'm eating my words on veganism – again, 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.
- 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.
- (countable) Something believed.The ancient people have a belief in many deities.
- (uncountable) The quality or state of believing.My belief that it will rain tomorrow is strong.
- (uncountable) Religious faith.She often said it was her belief that carried her through the hard times.
- (in the plural) One's religious or moral convictions.I can't do that. It's against my beliefs.