Dictionary

unbelief en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ʌnbɪˈliːf/ (UK)
• (Mid-Atlantic, US) audio

Etymology

From Middle English unbilefe, unbileve, equivalent to un- + belief.

Meanings

1. (uncountable, usually) An absence (or rejection) of belief, especially religious belief.
   • And he coulde there ſhewe no myracles butt leyd his hondꝭ apon a feawe ſicke foolke ãd healed thẽ. And he merveyled at their vnbelefe. 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Mark vj:[5–6], folio lj, recto:
   • On hands and knees he looked at the empty siding and up at the sunfilled sky with unbelief and despair. 1931, William Faulkner, Sanctuary, Vintage, published 1993, page 35:
   • Soon Spinoza was regarded as the standard-bearer for unbelief, even though pervading his carefully-worded writings there is a clear notion of a divine spirit inhabiting the world, and a profound sense of wonder and reverence for mystery. 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 781:

Forms

Relateds

doubt · disbelief

Translations (16)

eo malkredeco (lack of belief) · ee nuteƒemawɔmawɔ (lack of belief) · grc ἀπιστία (lack of belief) · ga ainchreideamh (lack of belief) · ja 不信心 (lack of belief) · de Unglaube (lack of belief) · ota كفر (lack of belief) · ga éigreideamh (lack of belief) · nl ongeloof (lack of belief) · cmn 不信 (lack of belief) · ru неве́рие (lack of belief) · la incredulitas (lack of belief) · fr incrédulité (lack of belief) · cmn 不信仰 (lack of belief) · bg неве́рие (lack of belief) · ga neamhchreideamh (lack of belief)