A ActivateWords

Dictionary / believe

believe

/bɪˈliːv/ (Received-Pronunciation)/bɪˈliv/ (General-American)/bi-/ (General-American)syllables: be·lieve
  • verb
  • from Old English

To accept as true, particularly without absolute certainty (i.e., as opposed to knowing).

▶ Play the mastery game

1 All current definitions

Every sense of “believe” in current use, as recorded by Wiktionary. Older and obsolete senses are kept separately.

verb

  1. transitiveTo accept as true, particularly without absolute certainty (i.e., as opposed to knowing).

    If you believe the numbers, you'll agree we need change.

  2. transitiveTo accept that someone is telling the truth.

    Why did I ever believe you?

  3. To have been persuaded to accept the factuality of something despite a lack of sufficient evidence therefore.transitiveTo have been convinced by rational means to accept the truth of a proposition.
  4. To have been persuaded to accept the factuality of something despite a lack of sufficient evidence therefore.transitiveTo have been influenced by arational means (such as emotional experience, the imagination of need, etc.) to accept the truth of a proposition.
  5. intransitiveTo have religious faith; to believe in a greater truth.

    After that night in the church, I believed.

  6. transitiveTo opine, think, reckon.

    Do you think this is good? —Hmm, I believe it's okay.

  7. [with in]To ascribe existence to.

    Do you believe in God / the Easter Bunny / ghosts?

  8. [with in]To believe that (something) is right or desirable.

    I don't believe in sex before marriage.

  9. [with in]To have confidence in the ability or power of.

    I believe in you, man! You can do it!

Wiktionary: “believe” (via kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
Cross-check: WordNet senses (5)
  1. verbaccept as true; take to be true
  2. verbjudge or regard; look upon; judge — also: think, consider, conceive
  3. verbbe confident about something — also: trust
  4. verbfollow a credo; have a faith; be a believer
  5. verbcredit with veracity
Princeton WordNet 3.0 — WordNet License

Antonyms: disbelieve, doubt, mistrust, distrust, suspect

Wiktionary: “believe” (via kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0

2 History of the word

The etymology, the path the word travelled, and the words built from it.

The word’s journey, newest to oldest:

  1. English (today)believe
  2. Middle Englishbeleven
  3. Old Englishbelīefan “to believe”
  4. Proto-West Germanic*bilaubijan “to believe”

From Middle English beleven, bileven, from Old English belīefan (“to believe”), from Proto-West Germanic *bilaubijan (“to believe”), equivalent to be- + leave (“to give leave or permission to, permit, allow, grant”). Cognate with Scots beleve (“to believe”), Old Frisian bilēva (“to permit”), Middle Dutch beloven (“to believe, entrust”), Middle Low German belö̂ven (“to believe”), Middle High German belouben (“to believe”).

A related term in Old English was ġelīefan (“to be dear to; believe, trust”), from Proto-West Germanic *galaubijan (“to have faith, believe”), from Proto-Germanic *galaubijaną. Compare also Old English ġelēafa (“belief, faith, confidence, trust”), Old English lēof ("dear, valued, beloved, pleasant, agreeable" > English lief). Related also to North Frisian leauwjen (“to believe”), Saterland Frisian leeuwe (“to believe”), West Frisian leauwe (“to believe”), Dutch geloven (“to believe”), German Low German glöven (“to believe”), German glauben (“to believe”), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌱𐌾𐌰𐌽 (galaubjan, “to hold dear, valuable, or satisfactory, approve of, believe”).

The prepositionally transitive senses with in are a semantic loan from Latin crēdō in aliquem / aliquid.

Wiktionary: “believe” (via kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0

Derivatives — words built from “believe”

believabilitybelievablebelieverbelievinglydisbelieveforebelievemake-believemisbelievenonbelievingrebelieveunbelievableunbelieveunbelievedunbeliever

Phrases & compounds

believe it or notbelieve mebelieve one's earsbelieve one's eyesbelieve one's own eyesbelieve you mebelieving is seeingbe unable to believe one's eyesdo you believe in GodI'll believe it when I see itmake believeseeing is believingwould you believewould you believe ityou better believe ityou'd better believe it

Related terms

beliefdisbelief
Wiktionary: “believe” (via kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0

Want to go deeper? See also “believe” on Etymonline ↗

3 Original language

Where “believe” came from before it was English.

Native English word, from
Old English
Old English belīefan “to believe”
Deepest root (reconstructed)
Proto-West Germanic
Proto-West Germanic *bilaubijan “to believe”
Wiktionary: “believe” (via kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0

4 Original meaning

What the word meant at the oldest point the record reaches.

Reconstructed Proto-West Germanic root
“to believe”
Proto-West Germanic *bilaubijan — rebuilt by linguists from its descendants; never written down.
Wiktionary: “believe” (via kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0

Historical meaning — Webster’s 1913

A historical record, labelled as such: some of these senses are dated or have since shifted.

believe v. t. [OE. bileven (with pref. be- for AS. ge-), fr. AS. gel, gel; akin to D. gelooven, OHG. gilouban, G. glauben, OS. gil, Goth. galaubjan, and Goth. liubs dear. See Lief, a., Leave, n.]

  1. 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.

believe 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.
  2. To think; to suppose.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), public domain, via GCIDE

5 Use it with confidence

Model sentences from the sources, matched to the meaning they show. Read each one aloud, then make your own in the game.

verbMeaning: To accept as true, particularly without absolute certainty (i.e., as opposed to knowing).

If you believe the numbers, you'll agree we need change.

I believe there are faeries.

verbMeaning: To accept that someone is telling the truth.

Why did I ever believe you?

verbMeaning: To have religious faith; to believe in a greater truth.

After that night in the church, I believed.

verbMeaning: To opine, think, reckon.

Do you think this is good? —Hmm, I believe it's okay.

“Some people believe him charismatic,” Van Assen told me. “I am less sensitive to it.”2017 February 1, Stephen Buranyi, quoting Marcel van Assen, “The high-tech war on science fraud”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 21 Feb 2025:

verbMeaning: To ascribe existence to.

Do you believe in God / the Easter Bunny / ghosts?

Since I don't believe in reincarnation, I believe that the only way to eliminate suffering is to die.

verbMeaning: To believe that (something) is right or desirable.

I don't believe in sex before marriage.

I don't believe in making my bed.

verbMeaning: accept as true; take to be true

I believed his report

We didn't believe his stories from the War

verbMeaning: judge or regard; look upon; judge

I believe her to be very smart

verbMeaning: be confident about something

I believe that he will come back from the war

verbMeaning: follow a credo; have a faith; be a believer

When you hear his sermons, you will be able to believe, too

Princeton WordNet 3.0 — WordNet License
Wiktionary: “believe” (via kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0

Three steps to owning it

  1. Pick one meaning above and read its model sentence out loud.
  2. Say who or what the word is about in your own life, then build a sentence around that.
  3. Check it against the definition: would a careful reader understand exactly that meaning?

6 The mastery game

Play it here, or print it and do it with pen and paper. At the end you will know the meanings, history, origin and original meaning — and you will have used the word yourself.

Step 1 of 10

Say it, then spell it

believe

/bɪˈliːv/ · be·lieve

Say the word out loud three times, slowly. Notice the stressed syllable. When you are ready, hide it and spell it from memory.

Activate Words · Word-mastery worksheet · Name: ______________________ Date: __________

believe

/bɪˈliːv/ · be·lieve · verb

Step 1 — Say it and write it

Say “believe” out loud three times. Then cover the word and write it three times from memory.

Step 2 — Know every meaning

Read each definition. Then write it again in your own words.

1. (verb) To accept as true, particularly without absolute certainty (i.e., as opposed to knowing).
2. (verb) To accept that someone is telling the truth.
3. (verb) To have been convinced by rational means to accept the truth of a proposition.
4. (verb) To have been influenced by arational means (such as emotional experience, the imagination of need, etc.) to accept the truth of a proposition.
5. (verb) To have religious faith; to believe in a greater truth.

Step 3 — Which meaning is it?

“If you believe the numbers, you'll agree we need change.”

A. To accept that someone is telling the truth.
B. To ascribe existence to.
C. To accept as true, particularly without absolute certainty (i.e., as opposed to knowing).

Circle the meaning used.

“Why did I ever believe you?”

A. To have been influenced by arational means (such as emotional experience, the imagination of need, etc.) to accept the truth of a proposition.
B. To accept that someone is telling the truth.
C. To ascribe existence to.

Circle the meaning used.

“After that night in the church, I believed.”

A. To accept that someone is telling the truth.
B. To have religious faith; to believe in a greater truth.
C. To have been influenced by arational means (such as emotional experience, the imagination of need, etc.) to accept the truth of a proposition.

Circle the meaning used.

Step 4 — History and origin

Which language did “believe” come into English from?   A. Medieval Latin  B. Middle French  C. Latin  D. Old English

Write the word’s journey back in time (each language and form):

Write three words built from “believe” and what each means:

Step 5 — Original meaning

The earliest traceable form is Proto-West Germanic *bilaubijan. What did it mean?

How does that original meaning connect to the meanings today?

Step 6 — Use it yourself

Write a sentence using “believe” to mean: To accept as true, particularly without absolute certainty (i.e., as opposed to knowing).
Write a sentence using “believe” to mean: To accept that someone is telling the truth.
Write a sentence using “believe” to mean: To have been convinced by rational means to accept the truth of a proposition.

☐ I can explain its meanings   ☐ I know its history   ☐ I know its original language   ☐ I know its original meaning   ☐ I can use it confidently

Answer key — believe

Which meaning, sentence 1: C. To accept as true, particularly without absolute certainty (i.e., as opposed to knowing).

Which meaning, sentence 2: B. To accept that someone is telling the truth.

Which meaning, sentence 3: B. To have religious faith; to believe in a greater truth.

Origin: D. Old English (Old English belīefan)

Journey: English believe ← Middle English beleven ← Old English belīefan ← Proto-West Germanic *bilaubijan

Some derivatives: believability, believable, believer, believingly, disbelieve, forebelieve, make-believe, misbelieve

Original meaning: Proto-West Germanic *bilaubijan — “to believe”

Etymology: From Middle English beleven, bileven, from Old English belīefan (“to believe”), from Proto-West Germanic *bilaubijan (“to believe”), equivalent to be- + leave (“to give leave or permission to, permit, allow, grant”). Cognate with Scots beleve (“to believe”), Old Frisian bilēva (“to permit”), Middle Dutch beloven (“to believe, entrust”), Middle Low German belö̂ven (“to believe”), Middle High German belouben (“to believe”).

Sources: Wiktionary “believe” (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/believe#English), CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org; Princeton WordNet 3.0; Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913, public domain) via GCIDE. Worksheet from https://activatewords.com/w/believe