faith

noun

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\ ˈfāth

plural faiths\ ˈfāths

, sometimes ˈfāt͟hz \

Definition of faith

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : allegiance to duty or a person : loyalty lost faith in the company's president

b(1) : fidelity to one's promises

(2) : sincerity of intentions acted in good faith

2a(1) : belief and trust in and loyalty to God

(2) : belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion

b(1) : firm belief in something for which there is no proof clinging to the faith that her missing son would one day return

(2) : complete trust

3 : something that is believed especially with strong conviction especially : a system of religious beliefs the Protestant faith

on faith

: without question took everything he said on faith

faith

verb

\ ˈfāth

faithed; faithing; faiths

Definition of faith (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

archaic

: believe, trust

Synonyms & Antonyms Choose the Right Synonym More Example Sentences Learn More about faith

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Choose the Right Synonym for faith

Noun

belief, faith, credence, credit mean assent to the truth of something offered for acceptance. belief may or may not imply certitude in the believer. my belief that I had caught all the errors faith almost always implies certitude even where there is no evidence or proof. an unshakable faith in God credence suggests intellectual assent without implying anything about grounds for assent. a theory now given credence by scientists credit may imply assent on grounds other than direct proof. gave full credit to the statement of a reputable witness

Examples of faith in a Sentence

Noun Faith without doubt leads to moral arrogance, the eternal pratfall of the religiously convinced. — Joe Klein, Time, 17 May 2004 Nick wiped at the moustache of sweat droplets that was as much a part of his face as his eyes and nose and gave a shrug that indicated a certain lack of faith in our judgment. — Tom Perrotta, Joe College, 2000 But while no one with a grain of sense trusted Miss Stephanie, Jem and I had considerable faith in Miss Maudie. She had never told on us, had never played cat-and-mouse with us, she was not at all interested in our private lives. She was our friend. — Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, 1960 His supporters have accepted his claims with blind faith. Our faith in the government has been badly shaken by the recent scandals. Lending him the money to start his own business was an act of faith. It requires a giant leap of faith for us to believe that she is telling the truth. Nothing is more important to her than her faith in God. She says that her faith has given her the courage to deal with this tragedy.

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Riley knows how to spin a yarn built on faith and trust, that lilts along with the gentility and reserve of her characters. — Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, "Hot Stuff: June romances embrace the inherent sexiness of faking it," 30 June 2020 The prongs of faith and duty: two sides of a bridle. — Emily Bernard, The New Yorker, "The Purpose of a House," 25 June 2020 Its adherents applied advanced pictorial theories about color and decorative patterns to scenes of religious faith and intimate family life. — Steven Litt, cleveland, "Cleveland Museum of Art, enriched by outstanding Keithley donations of early modern art, is ready to reopen Tuesday," 25 June 2020 Here science and faith are not seen as inimical to one another, but as working together, hand-in-glove. — Tulasi Srinivas, The Conversation, "India’s goddesses of contagion provide protection in the pandemic – just don’t make them angry," 15 June 2020 Richardson organized the event to show how unity, faith and action can create a place where his skin color isn’t seen as a threat. — al, "Black in white coats: how Alabama’s black healthcare workers are battling pandemic, racism," 14 June 2020 Community members attempted to forge political solidarity between gang leaders, Black Power activists, civil rights organizations, and faith and civic groups. — National Geographic, "How will the protests end? History tells us much depends on how government responds," 12 June 2020 Greenwood Mayor Mark Myers, who spoke of faith and his children, emphasized his need as a white man to listen. — Emily Hopkins, The Indianapolis Star, "Crowd gathers in Greenwood for demonstration in support of Black Lives Matter," 12 June 2020 The New York Times columnist discusses how trust and faith in the criminal justice system can die when blacks and whites have different experiences with police officers. — CBS News, "This week on "Sunday Morning" (June 14)," 11 June 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'faith.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for faith

Noun

Middle English feith, fei, borrowed from Anglo-French feit, feid, fei, going back to Latin fidēs "trust, guarantee, proof, sincerity, loyalty, belief," going back to *bhid-ēi-, noun derivative from zero-grade of an Indo-European verbal base *bhei̯dh- "entrust, trust," whence Latin fīdere "to trust (in), have confidence (in)," fīdus "faithful," Greek peíthesthai "to obey, comply with, believe," peíthein "to persuade, prevail upon," Albanian be "oath," and probably Old Church Slavic běždǫ, běditi "to compel, constrain," běda "distress, need"

Note: The English word is an early loan from medieval French, first attested in a homily fragment from the 12th century (see feþ in Dictionary of Old English); it appears to preserve the final interdental fricative generally lost in early Old French—a loss reflected in the more common Anglo-French form fei (also loaned into Middle English—see fay entry 2). Indo-European *bhei̯dh- is also usually claimed to be the source of Germanic *bīðan- "to wait" (see bide).

Verb

verbal derivative of faith entry 1

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