belief

Pronunciation: /bɪˈliːf/

Reading level: medium

Estimated CEFR level: B1 — Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun any cognitive content held as true
  2. noun a vague idea in which some confidence is placed

Etymology

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.

In classic literature

Semantic network

Broader (hypernyms)
content
Narrower (hyponyms)
vampirism, pacifism, doctrine, theosophism, conviction, suffragism
Opposite (antonyms)
unbelief

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