DictionaryAI

believing

Saybi-LEEV-ingUS/bɪˈlivɪŋ/UK/bɪˈliːvɪŋ/

Noun pluralbelievings (some meanings)

3 meanings of believing

Practice

  1. 1
    verb
    Present participle and gerund of believe.

    Believing the witness, the jury returned a quick verdict.

    Believing without proof felt reckless to her cautious mind.

    Note

    The participle has an older ending than its spelling shows. It comes from Middle English belevand and belefand and Old English ġelīfende, while the noun for trusting comes from bilevinge. Believe names a state, so the progressive "is believing" sounds odd in standard English. The form does its real work opening a clause (Believing the witness, …) and as a verbal noun.

  2. 2
    noununcountable
    The state or act of trusting in someone or something, or of placing faith or confidence in them.

    Believing requires a willingness to trust what cannot be proven.

    Her quiet believing in his recovery sustained the whole family.

    Similarfaith, belief, trust

    Oppositedoubt, disbelief

  3. 3
    nouncountable or uncountable
    Something a person accepts as true, or the state of mind in which it is accepted.

    The essay asks whether every believing rests on some earlier perception.

    On this account, our believings form a web, each one propped up by others.

    Similarbelief

    Note

    Philosophy keeps this sense alive when it needs to count individual acts of belief. Dermot Moran and Lester Embree's Phenomenology: Critical Concepts in Philosophy (2004) sorts believings by their certainty: simple, uncertain, or reassured after doubt. The plural believings is the clearest sign of this use. In everyday prose, belief and beliefs do the same job less conspicuously.

believing is a form of believe

believe, verb: To think or suppose something to be the case; to hold as one's opinion. Full entry

Forms
believebelieves he/she/itbelieving -ing formbelieved past tense, past participle
Spelling
believe → believing: drop the e, add -ing

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Origins

Meaning 1

From Middle English bilevyng (also belevand, bileveand, belefand), from Old English forms such as ġelīfende and ġelȳfende. It is equivalent to "believe" plus the suffix "-ing".

Meanings 2–3

From Middle English bilevinge (also belewynge), equivalent to "believe" plus the suffix "-ing".