belief Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun any cognitive content held as true
  2. noun a vague idea in which some confidence is placed
    impression; feeling; opinion; notion.
    • 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

WordNet

Be*lief" noun
Etymology
OE. bileafe, bileve; cf. AS. geleáfa. See Believe.
Definitions
  1. Assent to a proposition or affirmation, or the acceptance of a fact, opinion, or assertion as real or true, without immediate personal knowledge; reliance upon word or testimony; partial or full assurance without positive knowledge or absolute certainty; persuasion; conviction; confidence; as, belief of a witness; the belief of our senses.
    Belief admits of all degrees, from the slightest suspicion to the fullest assurance. Reid.
  2. (Theol.) A persuasion of the truths of religion; faith.
    No man can attain [to] belief by the bare contemplation of heaven and earth. Hooker.
  3. The thing believed; the object of belief.
    Superstitious prophecies are not only the belief of fools, but the talk sometimes of wise men. Bacon.
  4. A tenet, or the body of tenets, held by the advocates of any class of views; doctrine; creed.
    In the heat of persecution to which Christian belief was subject upon its first promulgation. Hooker.
    Sir W. Hamilton. Syn. -- Credence; trust; reliance; assurance; opinion.

Webster 1913