belief
be·lief/bɪˈliːf/noun
belief is spelled B-E-L-I-E-F, 2 syllables: be·lief. The wrong spelling people search most is beleif: about 70 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 20 of all searches for the word. Belief is a noun meaning “Mental acceptance of a claim as true”. The plural of belief is beliefs.
How many letters and syllables are in belief?
| Letters | 6: B-E-L-I-E-F |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: be·lief |
| In writing | 29 times per million words; the 3,218th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, beleif, about 70 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell belief?
Belief is spelled B-E-L-I-E-F. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 20 of the searches for belief in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is belief?
Belief appears 29 times per million words in written English, the 3,218th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce belief?
- /bɪˈliːf/
- [bɪˈlɪi̯f]
- /bəˈliːf/
Belief has 2 syllables, split be·lief in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-belief.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with belief?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as belief.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: belfie.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of belief
- beliefs plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does belief mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Mental acceptance of a claim as true.
It's my belief that the thief is somebody known to us.
- 2
Faith or trust in the reality of something; often based upon one's own reasoning, trust in a claim, desire of actuality, and/or evidence considered.
My belief is that there is a bear in the woods. Bill said he saw one.
- 3
Something believed.
The ancient people have a belief in many deities.
- 4
The quality or state of believing.
My belief that it will rain tomorrow is strong.
- 5
Religious faith.
She often said it was her belief that carried her through the hard times.
- 6
One's religious or moral convictions.
I can't do that. It's against my beliefs.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Belief in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | croyance , conviction , foi |
| German | Glauben , Glaube |
| Portuguese | crença |
| Spanish | creencia , fe |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does belief come from?
From Middle English bileve, from Old English lēafa, from Proto-West Germanic *laubu from Proto-Germanic *laubō. Compare German Glaube (“faith, belief”). The replacement of final /v/ with /f/ is due to the analogy of noun-verb pairs with /f/ in the noun but /v/ in the verb, creating a pair belief : believe on the model of e.g. grief : grieve or proof : prove.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).