Where does “believe” come from?
Believe comes from Middle English beleven, Old English belīefan, and Proto-Germanic bilaibijaną, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European roots meaning to remain or adhere.
believe (English): To accept as true, particularly without absolute...
Definitions
- To accept as true, particularly without absolute...
Ancestry of “believe”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | beleven | to leave behind |
| 2 | Old English | belīefan | to believe |
| 3 | Old English | be- | a productive prefix usually used to form verbs... |
| 4 | Old English | hrōpan | to shout, proclaim; cry out, scream, howl; to cry... |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | hrōpan | to cry out, to call, to shout |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | hrōpaną | to cry out, call, shout |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱer- | to grow, to make grow, to nourish; to plait,... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | kr̥- | to turn, to bend |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | ker- | army |