faith

Etymology

From Middle English faith (also fay), borrowed from Old French fei, feid, from Latin fidem. Displaced native Old English ġelēafa, which was also the word for "belief." Old French had [θ] as a final devoiced allophone of /ð/ from lenited Latin /d/; this eventually fell silent in the 12th century. The -th of the Middle English forms is most straightforwardly accounted for as a direct borrowing of a French [θ]. However, it has also been seen as arising from alteration of a French form with -d under influence of English abstract nouns in the suffix -th (e.g. truth, ruth, health, etc.), or as a recharacterisation of a French form like fay, fey, fei with the same suffix, thus making the word equivalent to fay + -th.

noun

1. A trust or confidence in the intentions or abilities of a person, object, or ideal from prior empirical evidence.
   The faithfulness of Old Faithful gives us faith in it.
   I have faith in the goodness of my fellow man.
   You need to have faith in yourself, that you can overcome your shortcomings and become a good person.
   […]with a mentality anchored in a profoundly influential and persistent hostility to central features of the Enlightment faith in the theoretical and practical autonomy of the human subject. 1999, Nicholas Walker, “The Reorientation of Critical Theory: Habermas”, in Simon Glemdinning, editor, The Edinburgh Encyclopedia of Continental Philosophy, Routledge, page 489
2. A conviction about abstractions, ideas, or beliefs, without empirical evidence, experience, or observation.
   I have faith that my prayers will be answered.
   I have faith in the healing power of crystals.
3. A religious or spiritual belief system.
   The Christian faith.
   We seek justice for the Indo-European Folk Faith; what's wrong in our literature for that?
   For we are a nation of believers. Underneath the clamor of building and the rush of our day's pursuits, we are believers in justice and liberty and union, and in our own Union. We believe that every man must someday be free. And we believe in ourselves. That is the mistake that our enemies have always made. In my lifetime--in depression and in war--they have awaited our defeat. Each time, from the secret places of the American heart, came forth the faith they could not see or that they could not even imagine. It brought us victory. And it will again. 1965, 18:00 from the start, in Lyndon B. Johnson inaugural address: January 20, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson (actor), CBS News
   Gradually I realized that I needed a faith to rely on. March 27, 2020, “Dafa Taught Me How to Be a Good Person”, in Minghui
4. An obligation of loyalty or fidelity and the observance of such an obligation.
   He acted in good faith to restore broken diplomatic ties after defeating the incumbent.
5. (obsolete) Credibility or truth.
   1784-1810, William Mitford, History of Greece the faith of the foregoing […] narrative

adv

1. (archaic) Alternative form of in faith (“really, truly”)
   'Faith, friend,' he says, 'that was a nasty fall for a fellow that has supped weel. Where might your road be gaun to?' 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide