belie

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 ]

a. Capable of being believed; credible. -- Be*liev"a*ble*ness, n. -- Be*liev`a*bil"i*ty n. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Believed p. pr. & vb. n. Believing. ] [ OE. bileven (with pref. be- for AS. ge-), fr. AS. gel&unr_;fan, gel&unr_;fan; akin to D. gelooven, OHG. gilouban, G. glauben, OS. gil&unr_;bian, Goth. galaubjan, and Goth. liubs dear. See Lief, a., Leave, n. ] To exercise belief in; to credit upon the authority or testimony of another; to be persuaded of the truth of, upon evidence furnished by reasons, arguments, and deductions of the mind, or by circumstances other than personal knowledge; to regard or accept as true; to place confidence in; to think; to consider; as, to believe a person, a statement, or a doctrine. [ 1913 Webster ]

Our conqueror (whom I now
Of force believe almighty). Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets ? Acts xxvi. 27. [ 1913 Webster ]

Often followed by a dependent clause.
I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Acts viii. 37. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- See Expect. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To have a firm persuasion, esp. of the truths of religion; to have a persuasion approaching to certainty; to exercise belief or faith. [ 1913 Webster ]

Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. Mark ix. 24. [ 1913 Webster ]

With the heart man believeth unto righteousness. Rom. x. 10. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To think; to suppose. [ 1913 Webster ]

I will not believe so meanly of you. Fielding. [ 1913 Webster ]

To believe in. (a) To believe that the subject of the thought (if a person or thing) exists, or (if an event) that it has occurred, or will occur; -- as, to believe in the resurrection of the dead. “She does not believe in Jupiter.” J. H. Newman. (b) To believe that the character, abilities, and purposes of a person are worthy of entire confidence; -- especially that his promises are wholly trustworthy. “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.” John xiv. 1. (c) To believe that the qualities or effects of an action or state are beneficial: as, to believe in sea bathing, or in abstinence from alcoholic beverages. --
To believe on, to accept implicitly as an object of religious trust or obedience; to have faith in. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who believes; one who is persuaded of the truth or reality of some doctrine, person, or thing. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Theol.) One who gives credit to the truth of the Scriptures, as a revelation from God; a Christian; -- in a more restricted sense, one who receives Christ as his Savior, and accepts the way of salvation unfolded in the gospel. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers. Book of Com. Prayer. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Eccl. Hist.) One who was admitted to all the rights of divine worship and instructed in all the mysteries of the Christian religion, in distinction from a catechumen, or one yet under instruction. [ 1913 Webster ]