BELIEVE

believe

(verb) accept as true; take to be true; “I believed his report”; “We didn’t believe his stories from the War”; “She believes in spirits”

believe

(verb) credit with veracity; “You cannot believe this man”; “Should we believe a publication like the National Enquirer?”

believe

(verb) follow a credo; have a faith; be a believer; “When you hear his sermons, you will be able to believe, too”

think, believe, consider, conceive

(verb) judge or regard; look upon; judge; “I think he is very smart”; “I believe her to be very smart”; “I think that he is her boyfriend”; “The racist conceives such people to be inferior”

believe, trust

(verb) be confident about something; “I believe that he will come back from the war”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology

Verb

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

(transitive) To accept as true, particularly without absolute certainty (i.e, as opposed to knowing)

(transitive) To accept that someone is telling the truth.

(intransitive) To have religious faith; to believe in a greater truth.

(transitive) To opine, think, reckon

Antonyms

• disbelieve

Usage notes

• The transitive verb believe and the phrasal verb believe in are similar but can have very different implications.

To “believe” someone or something means to accept specific pieces of information as truth: believe the news, believe the lead witness. To “believe a complete stranger” means to accept a stranger's story with little evidence.

To “believe in” someone or something means to hold confidence and trust in that person or concept: believe in liberty, believe in God. To “believe in one's fellow man” means to place trust and confidence in mankind.

• Meanings sometimes overlap. To believe in a religious text would also require affirming the truth of at least the major tenets. To believe a religious text might likewise imply placing one's confidence and trust in it, in addition to accepting its statements as facts.

• This is generally a stative verb that rarely takes the continuous inflection. See

Source: Wiktionary

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Be*lieve", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Believed; p. pr. & vb. n. Believing.] Etym: [OE. bileven (with pref. be- for AS. ge-), fr. AS. gel, gel; akin to D. gelooven, OHG. gilouban, G. glauben, OS. gil, Goth. galaubjan, and Goth. liubs dear. See Lief, a., Leave, n.]

Definition: To exercise belief in; to credit upon the authority or testimony of another; to be persuaded of the truth of, upon evidence furnished by reasons, arguments, and deductions of the mind, or by circumstances other than personal knowledge; to regard or accept as true; to place confidence in; to think; to consider; as, to believe a person, a statement, or a doctrine. Our conqueror (whom I now Of force believe almighty). Milton. King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets Acts xxvi. Often followed by a dependent clause. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Acts viii. 37.

Syn.

– See Expect.

Be*lieve", v. i.

1. To have a firm persuasion, esp. of the truths of religion; to have a persuasion approaching to certainty; to exercise belief or faith. Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. Mark ix. 24. With the heart man believeth unto righteousness. Rom. x. 10.

2. To think; to suppose. I will not believe so meanly of you. Fielding. To believe in. (a) To believe that the subject of the thought (if a person or thing) exists, or (if an event) that it has occurred, or will occur; -- as, to believe in the resurrection of the dead. "She does not believe in Jupiter." J. H. Newman. (b) To believe that the character, abilities, and purposes of a person are worthy of entire confidence; -- especially that his promises are wholly trustworthy. "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me." John xiv. 1. (c) To believe that the qualities or effects of an action or state are beneficial: as, to believe in sea bathing, or in abstinence from alcoholic beverages.

– To believe on, to accept implicitly as an object of religious trust or obedience; to have faith in.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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