Standard Lemma guide

believing

noun · verb · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /bɪˈliː.vɪŋ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /bɪˈli.vɪŋ/
  • General-American: /bi-/
  • General-American: /bə-/
  • CMU ARPABET: B IH0 L IY1 V IH0 NG Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The act or process of having faith, trust, or confidence in.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Belief.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

present participle and gerund of believe

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: form-of, gerund, participle, present

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

the cognitive process that leads to convictions

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • seeing is believing

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: basic cognitive process

Narrower terms: doublethink

History

Etymology

From Middle English bilevinge, belewynge, equivalent to believe + -ing.

From Middle English bilevyng, belevand, bileveand, belefand, from Old English *belēfende, ġelīfende, ġelȳfende. Equivalent to believe + -ing.

Real reading context

believing in complete knowledge articles