believer

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be·lieve

(bĭ-lēv′)

v. be·lieved, be·liev·ing, be·lieves

v.tr.

1. To accept as true or real: Do you believe the news stories?

2. To credit with veracity: I believe you.

3. To expect or suppose; think: I believe they will arrive shortly.

v.intr.

1. To have firm faith, especially religious faith.

2. To have faith, confidence, or trust: I believe in your ability to solve the problem.

3. To have confidence in the truth or value of something: We believe in free speech.

4. To have an opinion; think: They have already left, I believe.

Idioms:

believe (one's) ears

To trust what one has heard.

believe (one's) eyes

To trust what one has seen.

[Middle English bileven, from Old English belȳfan, belēfan, gelēfan; see leubh- in Indo-European roots.]

be·liev′er n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

be•liev•er

(bɪˈli vər)
n.

a person who believes, esp. one who has religious faith.

[1600–10]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	believer - a supporter who accepts something as true truster abiogenist - a believer in abiogenesis apostle - an ardent early supporter of a cause or reform; "an apostle of revolution" colonialist - a believer in colonialism Confucian, Confucianist - a believer in the teachings of Confucius evolutionist - a person who believes in organic evolution imperialist - a believer in imperialism Malthusian - a believer in Malthusian theory admirer, booster, protagonist, supporter, champion, friend - a person who backs a politician or a team etc.; "all their supporters came out for the game"; "they are friends of the library" vitalist - one who believes in vitalism
	2.	believer - a person who has religious faith worshipper, worshiper denomination - a group of religious congregations having its own organization and a distinctive faith religious person - a person who manifests devotion to a deity theist - one who believes in the existence of a god or gods devil worshiper - someone who worships devils monotheist - a believer in one god mystic, religious mystic - someone who believes in the existence of realities beyond human comprehension numerologist - a believer in numerology pantheist - someone who believes that God and the universe are the same pilgrim - someone who journeys to a sacred place as an act of religious devotion sun worshiper - someone who worships the sun theosophist - a believer in theosophy

believer

noun follower, supporter, convert, disciple, protagonist, devotee, worshipper, apostle, adherent, zealot, upholder, proselyte I made no secret of the fact that I was not a believer.
sceptic, atheist, disbeliever, agnostic, infidel, unbeliever, doubting Thomas

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

مُؤْمِن

věřící

troende

trúmaîur

inananmümin

believer

[bɪˈliːvəʳ] N

1. (Rel) → creyente mf, fiel mf

2. (= advocate) → partidario/a m/f
to be a great believer in → ser muy partidario de ...
I am a believer in letting things take their course → soy partidario de dejar que las cosas sigan su propio curso

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

believer

[bɪˈliːvə^r] n

(= proponent) believer in [+ idea, policy, principle] → partisan(e) de
to be a believer in the value of sth → croire en la valeur de qch
Mum was a great believer in herbal medicines → Maman croyait beaucoup aux vertus de la phytothérapie.
to be a believer in doing sth → croire qu'il est bon de faire qch

(RELIGION) → croyant(e) m/f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

believer

(Rel) → Gläubige(r) mf

to be a (firm) believer in something → (grundsätzlich) für etw sein; I’m a believer in doing things properly → ich bin grundsätzlich der Meinung, dass man, was man macht, richtig machen sollte; he’s a (firm) believer in getting up early → er ist überzeugter Frühaufsteher; he’s not much of a believer in getting up early → er hält nicht viel vom Frühaufstehen

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

believer

[bɪˈliːvəʳ] n (Rel) → credente m/f
to be a believer in (in idea, activity) → essere a favore di

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

believe

(biˈliːv) verb

1. to regard (something) as true. I believe his story.

2. to trust (a person), accepting what he says as true. I believe you.

3. to think (that). I believe he's ill.

beˈlievable adjective

beˈlief (-f) noun

1. faith or trust. I have no belief in his ability.

2. (often in plural) something believed. Christian beliefs.

beˈliever noun

a person who has (especially religious) beliefs. a true believer.

believe in

to accept the existence or recognize the value of (something). Do you believe in ghosts?; He believes in capital punishment.

References in classic literature ?

"I am sorry you are not a believer," he continued; "that some unbeliever should have got hold of you and unsettled your mind.

View in context

The letter had about every demerit of party letters in general; it was expressed with the energy of a believer; it was personal; it was a little more than half unfair, and about a quarter untrue.

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He had resolved from the first to tell her two things--that he was not chaste as she was, and that he was not a believer. It was agonizing, but he considered he ought to tell her both these facts.

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Then burst forth the unending argument between the believers and the unbelievers in the societies of the wise and the scientific journals.

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for it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through his appointed time, he now wills to remove, and that he gives to both North and South this terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to him?

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The good and just hate thee, and call thee their enemy and despiser; the believers in the orthodox belief hate thee, and call thee a danger to the multitude.

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Thus, believers and unbelievers, the learned and the ignorant, alike had their eyes fixed on the doctor, and he became the lion of the day, without knowing that he carried such a mane.

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A husband that doth not like his wife may easily find means to make the marriage void, and, what is worse, may dismiss the second wife with less difficulty than he took her, and return to the first; so that marriages in this country are only for a term of years, and last no longer than both parties are pleased with each other, which is one instance how far distant these people are from the purity of the primitive believers, which they pretend to have preserved with so great strictness.

View in context

At first, indeed, I pretended that I was describing the imaginary experiences of a fictitious person; but my enthusiasm soon forced me to throw off all disguise, and finally, in a fervent peroration, I exhorted all my hearers to divest themselves of prejudice and to become believers in the Third Dimension.

View in context

Like most savages they are firm believers in dreams, and in the power and efficacy of charms and amulets, or medicines as they term them.

View in context

'that all true believers break their eggs at the convenient end.'

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"Brother Ferrier," he said, taking a seat, and eyeing the farmer keenly from under his light-coloured eyelashes, "the true believers have been good friends to you.