believe
/bɪˈliːv/
"believe" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“believe” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #286. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #286
- frequency rank, English
- 31,241
- “B” headwords
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 7
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To accept as true, particularly without absolute certainty (i.e., as opposed to knowing).
Corpus desk
Index EN-believe · believe · English
believe · rank #286 · 9 variants · 7 confusables
- FREQ-CORE #286
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 7 pairs
- VAR-MID 9 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 31,241
- PHOTO-FINISH based
Nearest frequency peer: based (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “believe”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- stop
stop
99,718 corpus weight
- Water
Water
99,717 corpus weight
- based
based
99,716 corpus weight
- believe
believe
99,715 corpus weight
- call
call
99,714 corpus weight
- head
head
99,713 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “believe” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | believe |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /bɪˈliːv/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #286 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 7 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “believe” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 9 spelling variants around believe (IPA /bɪˈliːv/), averb. Corpus frequency is #286 among 31,241 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for believe, with forms such as "bbelieve", "beileve", and "beleive". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 7 confusable-pair relationships, "Belize", "belive", "believed", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep-der. Proto-Indo-European *h₁epsder. Proto-Indo-European *h₁epider. Proto-Indo-European *h₁pi Proto-Germanic *bider. Proto-Germanic *bi- Proto-West Germanic *bi- Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *laubō P… The correct English form is believe, spelled B-E-L-I-E-V-E.
Definition
- 1To accept as true, particularly without absolute certainty (i.e., as opposed to knowing).
- 2To accept that someone is telling the truth.
- 3To have religious faith; to believe in a greater truth.
- 4To opine, think, reckon.
- 5[with in]
- 6[with in]
- 7[with in]
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how believe appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
If you believe the numbers, you'll agree we need change.
I believe there are faeries.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep-der. Proto-Indo-European *h₁epsder. Proto-Indo-European *h₁epider. Proto-Indo-European *h₁pi Proto-Germanic *bider. Proto-Germanic *bi- Proto-West Germanic *bi- Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *laubō Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Germanic *-janą Proto-Germanic *laubijaną Proto-West Germanic *laubijan Proto-West Germanic *bilaubijan Old English belīefan Middle English bileven English believe From Middle English beleven, bileven, from Old English belīefan (“to believe”), from Proto-West Germanic *bilaubijan (“to believe”), equivalent to be- + leave (“to give leave or permission to, permit, allow, grant”). Cognate with Scots beleve (“to believe”), Middle Low German belö̂ven (“to believe”), Middle High German belouben (“to believe”). A related term in Old English was ġelīefan (“to be dear to; believe, trust”), from Proto-West Germanic *galaubijan (“to have faith, believe”), from Proto-Germanic *galaubijaną. Compare also Old English ġelēafa (“belief, faith, confidence, trust”), Old English lēof ("dear, valued, beloved, pleasant, agreeable" > English lief). Related also to North Frisian leauwjen (“to believe”), West Frisian leauwe (“to believe”), Dutch geloven (“to believe”), German glauben (“to believe”), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌱𐌾𐌰𐌽 (galaubjan, “to hold dear, valuable, or satisfactory, approve of, believe”). The prepositionally transitive senses with in are a semantic loan from Latin crēdō in aliquem / aliquid.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- bbelieve
- beileve
- beleive
- belieev
- believve
- belivee
- bellieve
- bleieve
- eblieve
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of believe - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "believe"?
What does "believe" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "believe"?
How do you pronounce "believe"?
What is the origin of the word "believe"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "believe", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.