EDIT - I removed one example of a definition which did not fit the meaning of the word "belief". It made a statement about research leading to belief - however a belief is not founded in evidence, and therefore not in research. Secondly, I reposted the primary definition of "belief" as evidenced in any major dictionary. BELIEF is a state, and it is a state of mental acceptance without evidence - whereas knowledge is a state of mental acceptance WITH evidence. This is the primary meaning of BELIEF, which overshadows and encompasses most of the other definitions below it. Thusly it should remain at the top.
EDIT - I removed the words "without evidence" form the previous definition. Common usage of the word "belief" does not distinguish between whether or not there is evidence to support the conceptual mental acceptance. In fact, most dictionaries clearly have both definitions. We already have another word "faith" that usually means "without evidence." However, I must say that I do not know of any belief, even faith, held by any person that is totally without evidence. No one believes or learnes anything totally void of evidence. Furthermore, we are even willing to accept the opinions of others as evidence in legal actions, and even kill people (legally) based only on the "testimony" of some other person. If the word "belief" does not cover all mental conceptual acceptance from accurate knowledge through false or inaccurate opinion, form truth to error, and also to cover faith and will, what is the word that does?
Joe Reeves 16:40, 15 September 2005
Belief does not necessarily have to occur with or without evidence. It is the assurance that something is true despite and outside of the limits of physical evidence. Belief is something that can exist outside of the rational. It is something that you have a deep conviction about and it doesn't matter what the evidence does and does not point to.
Suggestion: Please forgive my ignorance about Wiktionary protocol,but I'd like to propose the following as an additional, very broad, definition:
"a strategy for rationalizing our observations and interpretations" I know of no usage and comes from my own reasoning.
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"(process) A wishing of case or circumstance to be true (be + 'lief' --> be + wished)."
Huh? Kappa 04:23, 23 February 2007 (UTC)
RFV failed. —RuakhTALK 01:45, 20 April 2007 (UTC)
EDIT - Someone keeps restricting the primary definition with modifiers like “regardless of supporting evidence”. This simply doesn't match usage; belief is still belief when it has supporting evidence, and when it does not. So I have removed that modifier from the definition. 150.101.214.82 07:11, 31 December 2012 (UTC)