faith
nounadverbinterjectioncommon in dialogue
- //feɪθ//
A trust or confidence in the intentions or abilities of a person, object, or ideal from prior empirical evidence.
noun
- 1
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.
Have faith in him, buddy.
You need to have faith in yourself, that you can overcome your shortcomings and become a good person.
- 2
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.
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.
We have but faith: we cannot know; For knowledge is of things we see And yet we trust it comes from thee, A beam in darkness: let it grow.
- 3
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?
Gradually I realized that I needed a faith to rely on.
- 4
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.
- 5
obsoleteCredibility or truth.
1784-1810, William Mitford, History of Greece the faith of the foregoing […] narrative
Etymology
From Middle English faith (also fay), borrowed from Old French fei, feid, from Latin fidem. Doublet of foy. Displaced native Old English ġelēafa, which was also a 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 recharacterization of a French form like fay, fey, fei with the same suffix. Compare Champenois fiate, fiaite, showing the same preservation of the final consonant.
adverb
- 1
Variant of in faitharchaicAlternative form of in faith (“really, truly”).
“How wonderfully,” said Vincent, “your city dignities unloose the tongue: directly a man has been a mayor, he thinks himself qualified for a Tully at least. Faith, Venables asked me one day, what was the Latin for spouting? and I told him, ‘hippomanes, or a raging humour in mayors.’”
'Faith, friend,' he says, 'that was a nasty fall for a fellow that has supped weel. Where might your road be gaun to?'
interjection
- 1
Variant of by my faithobsoleteEllipsis of by my faith.
Forms
- plural
- faiths
faith · A trust or confidence in the intentions or abilities of a person, object, or ideal from prior empirical evidence.
Faith · A female given name from English.faithful · Loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause.faithfully · In a faithful manner.