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”), 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”), West Frisian leauwe (“to believe”), Dutch geloven (“to believe”), German glauben (“to believe”), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌱𐌾𐌰𐌽 (galaubjan, “to hold dear, valuable, or satisfactory, approve of, believe”).

verb

1. (transitive) 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.
   Many persons believe that the so-called "dollar of the daddies," weighing 412½ grains (nine tenths fine), having a ratio to gold of "16 to 1" in value when first coined, was the original dollar of the Constitution. September 1898, Alexander E. Outerbridge Jr., “Curiosities of American Coinage”, in Popular Science Monthly, volume 53, D. Appleton & Company, page 601
   [Isaac Newton] was obsessed with alchemy. He spent hours copying alchemical recipes and trying to replicate them in his laboratory. He believed that the Bible contained numerological codes. 2014-06-21, “Magician’s brain”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8892
2. (transitive) To accept that someone is telling the truth.
   Why did I ever believe you?
3. (intransitive) To have religious faith; to believe in a greater truth.
   After that night in the church, I believed.
   [N]ow ſuch a liue vngodly, vvithout a care of doing the wil of the Lord (though they profeſſe him in their mouths, yea though they beleeue and acknowledge all the Articles of the Creed, yea haue knowledge of the Scripturs) yet if they liue vngodly, they deny God, and therefore ſhal be denied, […] 1604, Jeremy Corderoy, A Short Dialogve, wherein is Proved, that No Man can be Saved without Good VVorkes, 2nd edition, Oxford: Printed by Ioseph Barnes, and are to be sold in Paules Church-yard at the signe of the Crowne, by Simon Waterson, →OCLC, page 40
4. (transitive) 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.” 2017-02-01, Stephen Buranyi, quoting Marcel van Assen, “The high-tech war on science fraud”, in The Guardian