faith
See also: Faith and fáith
English
Alternative forms
- feith, feithe, fayth, faythe, faithe (all obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle English faith (also fay), borrowed from Old French fei, feid, from Latin fidēs. Displaced native Old English ġelēafa, which was also the word for "belief."
Old French had [θ] as a final devoiced allophone of /ð/ from lenited Latin /d/; this eventually fell silent in the 12th century. The -th of the Middle English forms is most straightforwardly accounted for as a direct borrowing of a French [θ]. However, it has also been seen as arising from alteration of a French form with -d under influence of English abstract nouns in the suffix -th (e.g. truth, ruth, health, etc.), or as a recharacterisation of a French form like fay, fey, fei with the same suffix, thus making the word equivalent to fay + -th.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /feɪθ/
- Rhymes: -eɪθ
Audio (US) (file)
Noun
faith (countable and uncountable, plural faiths)
- A trust or confidence in the intentions or abilities of a person, object, or ideal from prior empirical evidence.
- The faithfulness of Old Faithful gives us faith in it.
- I have faith in the goodness of my fellow man.
- You need to have faith in yourself, that you can overcome your shortcomings and become a good person.
- 1999, Nicholas Walker, “The Reorientation of Critical Theory: Habermas”, in Simon Glemdinning, editor, The Edinburgh Encyclopedia of Continental Philosophy, Routledge, →ISBN, page 489:
- […] with a mentality anchored in a profoundly influential and persistent hostility to central features of the Enlightment faith in the theoretical and practical autonomy of the human subject.
- A conviction about abstractions, ideas, or beliefs, without empirical evidence, experience, or observation.
- I have faith that my prayers will be answered.
- I have faith in the healing power of crystals.
- A religious or spiritual belief system.
- The Christian faith.
- We seek justice for the Indo-European Folk Faith; what's wrong in our literature for that?
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Matthew 17:19–20:
- Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
- 1965, Lyndon B. Johnson inaugural address: January 20, 1965, CBS News, 18:00 from the start:
- For we are a nation of believers. Underneath the clamor of building and the rush of our day's pursuits, we are believers in justice and liberty and union, and in our own Union. We believe that every man must someday be free. And we believe in ourselves.
That is the mistake that our enemies have always made. In my lifetime--in depression and in war--they have awaited our defeat. Each time, from the secret places of the American heart, came forth the faith they could not see or that they could not even imagine. It brought us victory. And it will again.
- For we are a nation of believers. Underneath the clamor of building and the rush of our day's pursuits, we are believers in justice and liberty and union, and in our own Union. We believe that every man must someday be free. And we believe in ourselves.
- 2020 March 27, “Dafa Taught Me How to Be a Good Person”, in Minghui:
- Gradually I realized that I needed a faith to rely on.
- An obligation of loyalty or fidelity and the observance of such an obligation.
- He acted in good faith to restore broken diplomatic ties after defeating the incumbent.
- (obsolete) Credibility or truth.
- 1784-1810, William Mitford, History of Greece
- the faith of the foregoing […] narrative
- 1784-1810, William Mitford, History of Greece
Quotations
For quotations using this term, see Citations:faith.
Synonyms
- (knowing, without direct observation, based on indirect evidence and experience, that something is true, real, or will happen): belief, confidence, trust, conviction
- (system of religious belief): religion
Derived terms
- act of faith
- article of faith
- Attic faith
- bad faith
- by my faith
- cupboard faith
- faith and begorra
- faith-based
- faith-cure
- faithful
- faithfully
- faithfulness
- faith healer
- faith-healer
- faithing
- faithless
- faith-lift
- faith supper
- faith will move mountains
- good faith
- i' faith
- in faith
- interfaith
- keep faith
- keep the faith
- leap of faith
- oh me of little faith
- oh ye of little faith
- O me of little faith
- O ye of little faith
- profession of faith
- punic faith
- Punic faith
- seed-faith
- take on faith
- word of faith
Related terms
- affidavit
- bide
- fidelity
Translations
feeling that something is true
|
religious belief system
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obligation of loyalty or fidelity
|
confidence in the intentions or abilities
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credibility or truth
|
Adverb
faith (not comparable)
- (archaic) Alternative form of in faith (“really, truly”)
- 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide
- 'Faith, friend,' he says, 'that was a nasty fall for a fellow that has supped weel. Where might your road be gaun to?'
- 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide
References
- faith at OneLook Dictionary Search
- faith in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
- faith in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
- faith in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
Anagrams
- hatif