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n. 1. The mental act, condition, or habit of placing trust or confidence in another: My belief in you is as strong as ever. 2. Mental acceptance of and conviction in the truth, actuality, or validity of something: His explanation of what happened defies belief. 3. Something believed or accepted as true, especially a particular tenet or a body of tenets accepted by a group of persons. [Middle English bileve, alteration (influenced by bileven, to believe) of Old English gelēafa; see leubh- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] Synonyms: belief, credence, credit, faith These nouns denote mental acceptance of the truth, actuality, or validity of something: a statement unworthy of belief; an idea steadily gaining credence; expert testimony meriting credit; has no faith in the poorly collected data. See Also Synonyms at view. Antonym: disbelief |
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