believe

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[edit] English

Most common English words: kind « form « hundred « #280: believe » white » means » thus

[edit] Etymology

From be-/ge- + a short form of Old English ġelȳfan, (leafa).

[edit] Alternative spellings

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Verb

Infinitive
to believe

Third person singular
believes

Simple past
believed

Past participle
believed

Present participle
believing

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

  1. (transitive) To accept that someone is telling the truth.
    • Why did I ever believe you?
  2. (transitive) To accept as true.
    • If you believe the numbers, you'll agree we need change.
  3. (transitive) To consider likely.
    • I believe it might rain tomorrow.(This definition is the same as "to accept as true", but for a likely event "might rain tomorrow").
  4. (intransitive) To have religious faith; to believe in a greater truth.
    • After that night in the church, I believed.{This definition should be disregarded as it is the same as the transitive "to accept as true"}.

[edit] 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 place faith in that person or concept: believe in liberty, believe in God. To “believe in one's fellow man” means to place faith in mankind.
  • Meanings sometimes overlap. To believe in a religious text would also require affirming at least the major principles. To believe a religious text might likewise imply placing one's faith in it, in addition to accepting its statements as facts.

[edit] Quotations

  • 1611 — King James Version of the Bible, Luke 1:1
    Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us...

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Related terms

[edit] Translations

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
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Translations to be checked
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