What does belief mean?
Belief is the mental act or state of accepting that something is true, real, or valid — often without conclusive proof — and can also refer to a firmly held opinion, principle, or conviction. It covers everything from religious faith ('a belief in an afterlife') to personal convictions ('his belief in fairness') and confidence in people ('her belief in his abilities'). The word is neutral in tone and equally at home in formal writing and casual conversation, though it implies a degree of commitment stronger than mere supposition. Common collocations include 'firm belief', 'belief in', 'beyond belief', and 'popular belief'. Belief traces back through Middle English to Old English 'gelēafa', related to trust and loyalty, which also gives us the verb 'believe'. Its natural opposites include doubt, disbelief, and skepticism. As both an abstract concept and a practical word for describing what people hold true, belief remains central to discussions of religion, politics, science, and psychology.
nounAn acceptance that something exists or is true, especially one without proof; a firmly held opinion or conviction.
- Acceptance that something is true or real, often without proof (e.g. belief in God, belief in ghosts).
- A firmly held opinion or conviction about something (e.g. political beliefs).
- Trust or confidence in someone's ability or reliability (e.g. a belief in her judgment).
"Her belief in the power of education never wavered, even in the hardest years."
"It is a common belief that lightning never strikes the same place twice."
"Despite the setbacks, he held on to his belief that the project would succeed."
The plural 'beliefs' typically refers to a set of convictions, opinions, or tenets held by a person, group, or culture — most commonly in phrases like 'religious beliefs' or 'political beliefs'.
"The constitution guarantees freedom of religious beliefs."
The word 'belief' once meant the same as 'love' — it comes from an Old English root related to holding dear and being loyal, before it narrowed to mean accepting something as true.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of belief
Belief comes from Old English 'gelēafa', meaning faith or trust, whose root also gave English the verb 'believe'. The words share a Germanic origin connected with holding dear and being loyal, a sense preserved in cognates such as 'lief' and, more distantly, Latin 'fides' (faith) and its descendants like 'fidelity' and 'confide'. In Middle English the noun took forms such as 'bileve' before settling into its modern spelling by the early modern period.
Related word forms
How belief is actually used
Belief is generally neutral in register and appears freely in both formal and everyday contexts. It carries connotations of conviction and commitment; saying someone has a 'belief' often implies more than a passing opinion. The phrase 'contrary to popular belief' is a fixed expression used to introduce a correction of a widespread assumption.
Easily confused with belief
'Relief' means a feeling of reassurance after anxiety or the easing of pain, while 'belief' means acceptance that something is true — the two rhyme but share nothing else.