late 12c., bileave, replacing Old English geleafa "belief, faith," from West Germanic *ga-laubon "to hold dear, esteem, trust" (cognates: Old Saxon gilobo, Middle Dutch gelove, Old High German giloubo, German Glaube), from *galaub- "dear, esteemed," from intensive prefix *ga- + *leubh- "to care, desire, like, love" (see love (v.)). The prefix was altered on analogy of the verb believe. The distinction of the final consonant from that of believe developed 15c.
"The be-, which is not a natural prefix of nouns, was prefixed on the analogy of the vb. (where it is naturally an intensive) .... [OED]
Belief used to mean "trust in God," while faith meant "loyalty to a person based on promise or duty" (a sense preserved in keep one's faith, in good (or bad) faith and in common usage of faithful, faithless, which contain no notion of divinity). But faith, as cognate of Latin fides, took on the religious sense beginning in 14c. translations, and belief had by 16c. become limited to "mental acceptance of something as true," from the religious use in the sense of "things held to be true as a matter of religious doctrine" (a sense attested from early 13c.).
双语例句
1. The Greeks accepted belief in the immortality of the soul.
希腊人相信灵魂不灭。
来自柯林斯例句
2. Sweden is lovely in summer— cold beyond belief in winter.
瑞典的夏天非常宜人——冬天却冷得让人难以置信。
来自柯林斯例句
3. America's belief in its own God-ordained uniqueness started to erode.
美国人心中上帝赋予了他们独一无二的品质的信念开始逐渐丧失。
来自柯林斯例句
4. Belief in the utility of higher education is shared by students nationwide.
全国的学生都相信高等教育是有用的。
来自柯林斯例句
5. He holds the belief that he is a latter-day prophet.
