*lief*

n. [ F. bas-relief; bas low + relief raised work, relever to raise: cf. It. bassorilievo. ] Low relief; sculpture, the figures of which project less than half of their true proportions; -- called also bass-relief and basso-rilievo. See Alto-rilievo. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Same as Bas-relief. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. bileafe, bileve; cf. AS. geleáfa. See Believe. ] 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Belief admits of all degrees, from the slightest suspicion to the fullest assurance. Reid. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Theol.) A persuasion of the truths of religion; faith. [ 1913 Webster ]

No man can attain [ to ] belief by the bare contemplation of heaven and earth. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The thing believed; the object of belief. [ 1913 Webster ]

Superstitious prophecies are not only the belief of fools, but the talk sometimes of wise men. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A tenet, or the body of tenets, held by the advocates of any class of views; doctrine; creed. [ 1913 Webster ]

In the heat of persecution to which Christian belief was subject upon its first promulgation. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ultimate belief, a first principle incapable of proof; an intuitive truth; an intuition. Sir W. Hamilton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Credence; trust; reliance; assurance; opinion. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having belief or faith. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. Half relief. See Demi-rilievo. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of disbelieving;; a state of the mind in which one is fully persuaded that an opinion, assertion, or doctrine is not true; refusal of assent, credit, or credence; denial of belief. [ 1913 Webster ]

Our belief or disbelief of a thing does not alter the nature of the thing. Tillotson. [ 1913 Webster ]

No sadder proof can be given by a man of his own littleness that disbelief in great men. Carlyle.

Syn. -- Distrust; unbelief; incredulity; doubt; skepticism. -- Disbelief, Unbelief. Unbelief is a mere failure to admit; disbelief is a positive rejection. One may be an unbeliever in Christianity from ignorance or want of inquiry; a unbeliever has the proofs before him, and incurs the guilt of setting them aside. Unbelief is usually open to conviction; disbelief is already convinced as to the falsity of that which it rejects. Men often tell a story in such a manner that we regard everything they say with unbelief. Familiarity with the worst parts of human nature often leads us into a disbelief in many good qualities which really exist among men. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Same as Lif. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Written also lieve. ] [ OE. leef, lef, leof, AS. leíf; akin to OS. liof, OFries. liaf, D. lief, G. lieb, OHG. liob, Icel. lj&unr_;fr, Sw. ljuf, Goth. liubs, and E. love. √124. See Love, and cf. Believe, Leave, n., Furlough, Libidinous. ] 1. Dear; beloved. [ Obs., except in poetry. ] “My liefe mother.” Chaucer. “My liefest liege.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

As thou art lief and dear. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Used with a form of the verb to be, and the dative of the personal pronoun.) Pleasing; agreeable; acceptable; preferable. [ Obs. ] See Lief, adv., and Had as lief, under Had. [ 1913 Webster ]

Full lief me were this counsel for to hide. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Death me liefer were than such despite. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Willing; disposed. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

I am not lief to gab. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

He up arose, however lief or loth. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A dear one; a sweetheart. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Gladly; willingly; freely; -- now used only in the phrases, had as lief, and would as lief; as, I had, or would, as lief go as not. [ 1913 Webster ]

All women liefest would
Be sovereign of man's love. Gower. [ 1913 Webster ]

I had as lief the town crier spoke my lines. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Far liefer by his dear hand had I die. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The comparative liefer with had or would, and followed by the infinitive, either with or without the sign to, signifies prefer, choose as preferable, would or had rather. In the 16th century rather was substituted for liefer in such constructions in literary English, and has continued to be generally so used. See Had as lief, Had rather, etc. , under Had. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pleasing; delightful. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A feigning to believe; make believe. J. H. Newman. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Erroneous or false belief. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A printing surface in relief, obtained by photographic means and subsequent manipulations. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. relef, F. relief, properly, a lifting up, a standing out. See Relieve, and cf. Basrelief, Rilievi. ] 1. The act of relieving, or the state of being relieved; the removal, or partial removal, of any evil, or of anything oppressive or burdensome, by which some ease is obtained; succor; alleviation; comfort; ease; redress. [ 1913 Webster ]

He sees the dire contagion spread so fast,
That, where it seizes, all relief is vain. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Release from a post, or from the performance of duty, by the intervention of others, by discharge, or by relay; as, a relief of a sentry. [ 1913 Webster ]

For this relief much thanks; 'tis bitter cold. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. That which removes or lessens evil, pain, discomfort, uneasiness, etc.; that which gives succor, aid, or comfort; also, the person who relieves from performance of duty by taking the place of another; a relay. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Feudal Law) A fine or composition which the heir of a deceased tenant paid to the lord for the privilege of taking up the estate, which, on strict feudal principles, had lapsed or fallen to the lord on the death of the tenant. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Sculp. & Arch.) The projection of a figure above the ground or plane on which it is formed. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Relief is of three kinds, namely, high relief (altorilievo), low relief, (basso-rilievo), and demirelief (mezzo-rilievo). See these terms in the Vocabulary. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Paint.) The appearance of projection given by shading, shadow, etc., to any figure. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Fort.) The height to which works are raised above the bottom of the ditch. Wilhelm. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. (Physical Geog.) The elevations and surface undulations of a country. Guyot. [ 1913 Webster ]

Relief valve, a valve arranged for relieving pressure of steam, gas, or liquid; an escape valve. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Alleviation; mitigation; aid; help; succor; assistance; remedy; redress; indemnification. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Giving relief. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Destitute of relief; also, remediless. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Pref. un- not + belief: cf. AS. ungeleáfa. ] 1. The withholding of belief; doubt; incredulity; skepticism. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Disbelief; especially, disbelief of divine revelation, or in a divine providence or scheme of redemption. [ 1913 Webster ]

Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- See Disbelief. [ 1913 Webster ]