belief

be·lief  (b-lf)

n.

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.

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[Middle English bileve, alteration (influenced by bileven, to believe) of Old English gelafa; see leubh- in Indo-European roots.]

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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belief [bɪˈliːf]

n

1. a principle, proposition, idea, etc., accepted as true

2. opinion; conviction

3. religious faith

4. trust or confidence, as in a person or a person's abilities, probity, etc

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Belief 

See Also: GOVERNMENT, MORALITY, POLITICS, RELIGION

1. Belief is as necessary to the soul as pleasures are necessary to the body —Elsa Schiaparelli
2. Belief, light as a drum rattle, touches us —A. R. Ammons
3. Communism is like Prohibition, it’s a good idea but it won’t work —Will Rogers
4. Conservatives, like embalmers, would keep intact the forms from which the vital principle has fled —John Lancaster Spalding
5. Convictions … the deeper you went the filmier the convictions got, until they were like an underwater picture, shifting, dreamy, out of focus —Wilfrid Sheed
6. Facism would sprout to life like a flower through a coffin’s cracks, watered by the excreta of the dead —Dylan Thomas
7. Faith is like a lily lifted high and white —Christina Georgina Rossetti
8. Faith, like a jackal, feeds among the tombs, and even from these dead doubts she gathers her most vital hope —Herman Melville
9. Faith … stronger than a bank vault —Jimmy Breslin
10. His religious ethics fell like drowned fences —Graham Masterson
11. Ideals are like comets, revisit the earth periodically after long cycles of years —always excepting the enormous ideas that so many sublime donkeys envision of themselves —Punch, 1850
12. Ideals are like the stars: we never reach them, but like the mariners of the sea, we chart our course by them —Carl Schurz speech, Faneuil Hall, Boston, April 18, 1859
13. (He was fast in the clutches of his theory). It seemed to guide him like some superior being seated at the helm of his intelligence —Edith Wharton
14. (Fanatics is a pain). It’s like talking to a rock trying to talk to a fanatic —Robert Campbell
15. Living up to ideals is like doing everyday work with your Sunday clothes on —Ed Howe
16. Love of country is like love of woman ... he loves her best who seeks to bestow on her the highest good —Felix Adler
17. A man’s ideal, like his horizon, is constantly receding from him as he advances toward it —W.G.T. Shedd
18. (Like many another big boss,) nationalism is largely bogus … like a bunch of flowers made out of plastics —J. B. Priestly
19. One by one, like leaves from a tree, all my faiths have forsaken me —Sara Teasdale
20. Our dogmas have been greatly enlarged to make them fit in with all sorts of necessities, so that they are like a patched coat, well-worn, and comfortable to wear. Our religion is as variegated as a Harlequin’s dress —Anatole France
21. Patriotism is a kind of religion: it is the egg from which wars are hatched —Guy de Maupassant
22. Patriotism is as fierce as a fever, pitiless as the grave, blind as a stone and irrational as a headless man —Ambrose Bierce
23. (I think) patriotism is like charity —it begins at home —Henry James
24. Principles are like mountains; they rise very near heaven, but when they stand in our way, we drive a tunnel through them —Cardinal Rampolla
25. Skepticism [in preference to superstition] … it seems to be like a choice between lunacy and idiocy, -death by fire-or by water —Henry James, letter to Thomas Sergeant Perry, November 1, 1863
26. The theory towered up … like some high landmark by which travelers shape their course —Edith Wharton
27. We naturally lose illusions as we get older, like teeth —Sydney Smith
28. A wise conviction is like light —Sir Arthur Helps

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	belief - any cognitive content held as true cognitive content, mental object, content - the sum or range of what has been perceived, discovered, or learned conviction, strong belief, article of faith - an unshakable belief in something without need for proof or evidence faith, trust - complete confidence in a person or plan etc; "he cherished the faith of a good woman"; "the doctor-patient relationship is based on trust" doctrine, ism, philosophical system, philosophy, school of thought - a belief (or system of beliefs) accepted as authoritative by some group or school philosophy - any personal belief about how to live or how to deal with a situation; "self-indulgence was his only philosophy"; "my father's philosophy of child-rearing was to let mother do it" expectation, outlook, prospect - belief about (or mental picture of) the future fetichism, fetishism - a belief in the magical power of fetishes (or the worship of a fetish) geneticism - the belief that all human characteristics are determined genetically meliorism - the belief that the world can be made better by human effort opinion, persuasion, sentiment, thought, view - a personal belief or judgment that is not founded on proof or certainty; "my opinion differs from yours"; "I am not of your persuasion"; "what are your thoughts on Haiti?" autotelism - belief that a work of art is an end in itself or its own justification originalism - the belief that the United States Constitution should be interpreted in the way the authors originally intended it pacificism, pacifism - the belief that all international disputes can be settled by arbitration faith, religion, religious belief - a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny; "he lost his faith but not his morality" popular opinion, public opinion, vox populi, opinion - a belief or sentiment shared by most people; the voice of the people; "he asked for a poll of public opinion" revolutionism - a belief in the spread of revolutionary principles sacerdotalism - a belief that priests can act as mediators between human beings and God spiritualism - the belief that the spirits of dead people can communicate with people who are still alive (especially via a medium) spiritual domain, spiritual world, unseen - a belief that there is a realm controlled by a divine spirit suffragism - the belief that the right to vote should be extended (as to women) supernaturalism - a belief in forces beyond ordinary human understanding superstition, superstitious notion - an irrational belief arising from ignorance or fear supremacism - the belief that some particular group or race is superior to all others; "white supremacism" theory - a belief that can guide behavior; "the architect has a theory that more is less"; "they killed him on the theory that dead men tell no tales" theosophism - belief in theosophy thought - the organized beliefs of a period or group or individual; "19th century thought"; "Darwinian thought" totemism - belief in the kinship of a group of people with a common totem tribalism - the beliefs of a tribal society values - beliefs of a person or social group in which they have an emotional investment (either for or against something); "he has very conservatives values" vampirism - belief in the existence of vampires individualism - a belief in the importance of the individual and the virtue of self-reliance and personal independence spiritual being, supernatural being - an incorporeal being believed to have powers to affect the course of human events unbelief, disbelief - a rejection of belief
	2.	belief - a vague idea in which some confidence is placed; "his impression of her was favorable"; "what are your feelings about the crisis?"; "it strengthened my belief in his sincerity"; "I had a feeling that she was lying" impression, notion, feeling, opinion idea, thought - the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about; "it was not a good idea"; "the thought never entered my mind" presence - the impression that something is present; "he felt the presence of an evil force" effect - an impression (especially one that is artificial or contrived); "he just did it for effect" first blush - at the first glimpse or impression; "at first blush the idea possesses considerable intuitive appeal but on closer examination it fails" hunch, suspicion, intuition - an impression that something might be the case; "he had an intuition that something had gone wrong"

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belief

noun

1. trust, confidence, faith, conviction, reliance, hopefulness a belief in personal liberty
trust doubt, disbelief, scepticism, distrust, mistrust, incredulity, dubiety

2. faith, principles, doctrine, ideology, creed, dogma, tenet, credence, credo He refuses to compete on Sundays because of his religious beliefs.

3. opinion, feeling, idea, view, theory, impression, assessment, notion, judgment, point of view, sentiment, persuasion, presumption It is my belief that a common ground can be found.

Translations

belief [bɪˈliːf] N

1. (= tenet, doctrine) → creencia f; (= trust) → confianza f; (= opinion) → opinión f
contrary to popular belief → al contrario de lo que muchos creen ...
a man of strong beliefs → un hombre de firmes convicciones
to the best of my belief → según mi leal saber y entender
it is my belief that → estoy convencido de que ...
I did it in the belief that → lo hice creyendo que ...
it's beyond belief → es increíble (that que) wealthy beyond belief → de una fortuna increíble

2. (no pl) (= faith) → fe f
his belief in God → su fe en Dios

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belief [bɪˈliːf] n

(= opinion) → conviction f
it is my belief that ... → je suis convaincu que ...

(= trust, faith) → foi f

(= acceptance as true) → croyance f
beyond belief adv (= incredibly) → incroyablement; adj → incroyable
in the belief that (= believing that) → persuadé(e) que
contrary to popular belief → contrairement aux idées reçues

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belief

n

→ Glaube m (→ in an +acc); it is beyond belief → es ist unglaublich or nicht zu glauben; a statement unworthy of your belief (form) → eine Aussage, der Sie keinen Glauben schenken sollten

(Rel: = faith) → Glaube m; (= doctrine) → (Glaubens)lehre f

(= convinced opinion) → Überzeugung f, → Glaube m no pl; what are the beliefs of the average citizen today? → woran glaubt der heutige Durchschnittsbürger?; in the belief that … → im Glauben, dass …; acting in this belief → in gutem Glauben, im guten Glauben; it is my belief that … → ich bin der Überzeugung, dass …; it is one of my beliefs that … → es ist meine Überzeugung, dass …; yes, that is my belief → ich glaube schon; to the best of my belief → meines Wissens

no pl (= trust) → Glaube m (→ in an +acc); to have belief in → glauben an (+acc)

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belief [bɪˈliːf] n (faith) → fede f; (trust) → fiducia; (tenet, doctrine, opinion) → convinzione f, opinione f; (acceptance as true) → credenza
belief in God → fede in Dio
it's a belief held by all Christians → è credenza comune a tutti i cristiani
it's beyond belief → è incredibile
rich beyond belief → incredibilmente ricco/a
a man of strong beliefs → un uomo dalle ferme convinzioni
it is my belief that → sono convinto che
in the belief that → nella convinzione che

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belief believe

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belief → اعتقاد víra tro Glaube πεποίθηση creencia uskomus croyance vjerovanje fede 信頼 믿음 geloof tro przekonanie crença вера övertygelse ความเชื่อมั่น inanç lòng tin 信念