| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| belief |
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| SYLLABICATION: | be·lief |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  b -l f |
| NOUN: | 1. The mental act, condition, or habit of placing trust or confidence in another: My belief in you is as strong as ever. 2. Mental acceptance of and conviction in the truth, actuality, or validity of something: His explanation of what happened defies belief. 3. Something believed or accepted as true, especially a particular tenet or a body of tenets accepted by a group of persons. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English bileve, alteration (influenced by bileven, to believe), of Old English gelafa. See leubh- in Appendix I. | | SYNONYMS: | belief, credence, credit, faith These nouns denote mental acceptance of the truth, actuality, or validity of something: a statement unworthy of belief; an idea steadily gaining credence; testimony meriting credit; has no faith in a liar's assertions. See also synonyms at opinion. | | ANTONYM: | disbelief
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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