belief
NounWordNet 3.0
Noun (2)
- any cognitive content held as true
- a vague idea in which some confidence is placed“his impression of her was favorable”“what are your feelings about the crisis?”“it strengthened my belief in his sincerity”“I had a feeling that she was lying”Synonyms: impressionfeelingnotionopinion
Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)
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]