# faith

Pronunciation: say "FAYTH" /feɪθ/

## Noun

1. A system of religious or spiritual belief held by a person or community.
   - Simple: A religion or set of spiritual beliefs that people follow.
   - _Pilgrims of every faith gathered at the river for the festival._
   - _He left the faith of his childhood after a long period of doubt._
2. Complete trust or confidence in a person, thing, or idea.
   - Simple: A strong belief that someone or something is good, honest, or will do what you hope.
   - _I have complete faith in your judgment._
   - _Many voters are losing faith in the justice system._
3. A binding obligation of loyalty or fidelity, together with the keeping of that obligation.
   - Simple: A duty to stay loyal and true, and the act of keeping that duty.
   - _A knight pledged faith to his lord and was bound to honor it._
   - _They kept faith with one another through every hardship._

## Noun

4. The credibility or truthfulness of a statement or account. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: How believable or truthful something is.

## Adverb

5. Short for in faith: really or truly. Now archaic. *(archaic)* — Alternative form of in faith (“really, truly”).
   - Simple: Alternative form of in faith. An old way to say "really" or "truly."

## Interjection

6. Short for by my faith: an oath meaning "truly" or "upon my word," used for emphasis or to show surprise. *(obsolete)* — Ellipsis of by my faith.
   - Simple: Short for by my faith: an old way to say "truly" or to show surprise.

## Origin

Latin "fidem" became Old French "fei, feid," which Middle English borrowed as "faith" (also "fay"). It pushed out the native Old English "ġelēafa," a word that also meant "belief." The final "-th" may come straight from a French [θ] sound, or it may be due to English abstract nouns ending in "-th," such as "truth" and "health."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/faith (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).