Alternative formsEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle English beleven, bileven, from Old English belīefan (“to believe”), a later variant to Proto-Germanic *galaubijaną (“to have faith, believe”). Cognate with Scots beleve (“to believe”). Compare Old English ġelīefan (“to be dear to; believe, trust”), Old English ġelēafa (“belief, faith, confidence, trust”), Old English lēof ("dear, valued, beloved, pleasant, agreeable"; > English lief). Related also to North Frisian leauwjen (“to believe”), West Frisian leauwe (“to believe”), Dutch geloven (“to believe”), German glauben (“to believe”), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌱𐌾𐌰𐌽 (galaubjan, “to hold dear, valuable, or satisfactory, approve of, believe”).
PronunciationEdit
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)
If you believe the numbers, you'll agree we need change.
I believe there are faeries.
1898 September 1, Alexander E. Outerbridge Jr., “Curiosities of American Coinage”, in Popular Science Monthly[1], volume 53, D. Appleton & Company, page 601:Many persons believe that the so-called "dollar of the daddies," weighing 412½ grains (nine tenths fine), having a ratio to gold of "16 to 1" in value when first coined, was the original dollar of the Constitution.
2014 June 21, “Magician’s brain”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8892:[Isaac Newton] was obsessed with alchemy. He spent hours copying alchemical recipes and trying to replicate them in his laboratory. He believed that the Bible contained numerological codes.
- (transitive) To accept that someone is telling the truth.
Why did I ever believe you?
- (intransitive) To have religious faith; to believe in a greater truth.
After that night in the church, I believed.
1604, Jeremy Corderoy, A Short Dialogve, wherein is Proved, that No Man can be Saved without Good VVorkes, 2nd edition, Oxford: Printed by Ioseph Barnes, and are to be sold in Paules Church-yard at the signe of the Crowne, by Simon Waterson, OCLC 55185654, page 40:[N]ow ſuch a liue vngodly, vvithout a care of doing the wil of the Lord (though they profeſſe him in their mouths, yea though they beleeue and acknowledge all the Articles of the Creed, yea haue knowledge of the Scripturs) yet if they liue vngodly, they deny God, and therefore ſhal be denied, […]
- (transitive) To opine, think, reckon
- Do you think this is good?
- Hmm, I believe it's okay.
Usage notesEdit
- 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 Category:English stative verbs
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
to accept that someone is telling the truth (object: person)
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- Latgalian: ticēt, īticēt
- Latin: crēdō (la)
- Latvian: ticēt (lv)
- Lithuanian: tikėti (lt)
- Luxembourgish: gleewen
- Lü: please add this translation if you can
- Macedonian: верува impf (veruva)
- Malay: percaya
- Maltese: emmen
- Mirandese: acraditar
- Mongolian: итгэх (mn) (itgeh)
- Norman: craithe (Jersey), creire (Guernsey, France)
- North Frisian: liiwe
- Norwegian: tro (no)
- Occitan: creire (oc), créder (oc), créser (oc)
- Old English: ġelīefan
- Persian: باور کردن (fa) (bâvar kardan)
- Polish: wierzyć (pl) impf
- Portuguese: acreditar (pt), crer (pt)
- Punjabi: please add this translation if you can
- Quechua: iñiy (qu)
- Romanian: crede (ro)
- Romansch: crair, crer, creir, crajer
- Russian: ве́рить (ru) impf (véritʹ), пове́рить (ru) pf (povéritʹ)
- Sanskrit: श्रद्दधाति (śraddadhāti)
- Sardinian: crèdere, crèere, crei, crèiri, crere
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: ве̏ровати impf, вје̏ровати impf
- Roman: vȅrovati (sh) impf, vjȅrovati (sh) impf
- Sicilian: crìdiri (scn), crìriri (scn)
- Slovak: veriť (sk) impf
- Slovene: verjeti (sl) impf
- Southern Ohlone: aaman
- Spanish: creer (es)
- Sundanese: percanten
- Swedish: tro (sv)
- Tagalog: maniwala
- Tajik: бовар кардан (bovar kardan)
- Tamil: please add this translation if you can
- Tatar: инанырга (inanırga)
- Telugu: నమ్ము (te) (nammu)
- Thai: เชื่อ (th) (chʉ̂ʉa)
- Turkish: inanmak (tr)
- Turkmen: ynanmak
- Udmurt: оскыны (oskyny)
- Ukrainian: ві́рити impf (víryty)
- Urdu: ماننا (mānnā)
- Uzbek: ishonmoq (uz)
- Venetian: crédar, créder
- Vietnamese: tin (vi), tin tưởng (vi)
- Walloon: croere (wa)
- Welsh: credu (cy)
- West Frisian: leauwe
- Yiddish: גלייבן (gleybn)
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to consider likely
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- Kabuverdianu: akridita
- Korean: 생각하다 (ko) (saenggakhada) (to think)
- Latin: crēdō (la)
- Mirandese: acraditar
- Norman: craithe (Jersey), creire (Guernsey, France)
- Novial: kreda
- Old English: ġelīefan
- Polish: sądzić (pl), przypuszczać (pl), myśleć (pl) impf
- Portuguese: acreditar (pt), crer (pt), achar (pt)
- Russian: полага́ть (ru) impf (polagátʹ), счита́ть (ru) impf (sčitátʹ), ду́мать (ru) impf (dúmatʹ)
- Scottish Gaelic: smaoinich, saoil
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: ве̏ровати, вје̏ровати
- Roman: ве̏ровати, vjȅrovati (sh)
- Swedish: tro (sv), förmoda (sv), anta (sv)
- Telugu: అనుకో (anukō)
- Turkish: inanmak (tr)
- Ukrainian: вважа́ти (vvažáty), ду́мати (uk) impf (dúmaty)
- Walloon: croere (wa)
- Welsh: credu (cy)
- West Frisian: leauwe
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to have religious faith; to believe in a greater truth
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- Mirandese: acraditar
- Navajo: oodlą́
- Norman: craithe (Jersey), creire (Guernsey, France)
- Old English: ġelīefan
- Persian: ایمان داشتن (imân dâštan)
- Polish: wierzyć (pl)
- Portuguese: acreditar (pt), crer (pt)
- Quechua: iñiy (qu)
- Russian: ве́рить (ru) impf (véritʹ), пове́рить (ru) pf (povéritʹ), ве́ровать (ru) impf (vérovatʹ)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: ве̏ровати, вје̏ровати
- Roman: ве̏ровати, vjȅrovati (sh)
- Slovene: verjeti (sl), verovati
- Spanish: creer (es), tener fe
- Swedish: tro (sv)
- Turkish: inanmak (tr)
- Ukrainian: ві́рувати (víruvaty), ві́рити (víryty)
- Walloon: croere (wa)
- Welsh: credu (cy)
- West Frisian: leauwe
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked