believe.
To accept as true, particularly without absolute certainty (i.e., as opposed to knowing).
Meaning & usage
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.
To accept that someone is telling the truth.
Why did I ever believe you?
To have been persuaded to accept the factuality of something despite a lack of sufficient evidence therefore. To have been convinced by rational means to accept the truth of a proposition.
To have been persuaded to accept the factuality of something despite a lack of sufficient evidence therefore. To have been influenced by arational means (such as emotional experience, the imagination of need, etc.) to accept the truth of a proposition.
To have religious faith; to believe in a greater truth.
After that night in the church, I believed.
To opine, think, reckon.
Do you think this is good? —Hmm, I believe it's okay.
[with in] To ascribe existence to.
Do you believe in God / the Easter Bunny / ghosts?
Since I don't believe in reincarnation, I believe that the only way to eliminate suffering is to die.
[with in] To believe that (something) is right or desirable.
I don't believe in sex before marriage.
I don't believe in making my bed.
[with in] To have confidence in the ability or power of.
I believe in you, man! You can do it!
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep-der. Proto-Indo-European *h₁épsder. Proto-Indo-European *h₁épider. Proto-Indo-European *h₁pi Proto-Germanic *bider. Proto-Germanic *bi- Proto-West Germanic *bi- Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *laubō Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Germanic *-janą Proto-Germanic *laubijaną Proto-West Germanic *laubijan Proto-West Germanic *bilaubijan Old English belīefan Middle English bileven English believe From Middle English beleven, bileven, from Old English belīefan (“to believe”), from Proto-West Germanic *bilaubijan (“to believe”), equivalent to be- + leave (“to give leave or permission to, permit, allow, grant”). Cognate with Scots beleve (“to believe”), Old Frisian bilēva (“to permit”), Middle Dutch beloven (“to believe, entrust”), Middle Low German belö̂ven (“to believe”), Middle High German belouben (“to believe”). A related term in Old English was ġelīefan (“to be dear to; believe, trust”), from Proto-West Germanic *galaubijan (“to have faith, believe”), from Proto-Germanic *galaubijaną. Compare also 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”), Saterland Frisian leeuwe (“to believe”), West Frisian leauwe (“to believe”), Dutch geloven (“to believe”), German Low German glöven (“to believe”), German glauben (“to believe”), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌱𐌾𐌰𐌽 (galaubjan, “to hold dear, valuable, or satisfactory, approve of, believe”). The prepositionally transitive senses with in are a semantic loan from Latin crēdō in aliquem / aliquid.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.