faith 
suffix -th (as in truth, ruth, health, and other ab- 
stract nouns), of -d in the oldest OF. form feid), 
also fay, fey, fei, faith, fidelity, trust, belief, < 
OF. feid, foit, later fei (seefay*), foi (AF. fei), 
nom. fe:, fois = Pr. fe, nom.fes = Sp. Pg. fe = 
It.fede, < i,. fides, aets.fidem, faith, belief, trust, 
< fidere, trust, confide in, = Gr. ireideiv, per- 
suade, mid. ireifaaOat, believe, 2d perf. Trtiroitia, 
I trust (deriv. irians, trust, faith, xiaroc, trusty, 
faithful, trustworthy, credible), / *<f>tO, orig. 
move by entreaty, = AS. biddaii, E. bid, en- 
treat, pray, akin to AS. bidan, E. bide, await: 
see bid and bide. From the same L. source are 
E. fidelity, fiduciary, etc., infidel, etc., affidavit, 
affy, affiant, defy, defiant, confide, confident, etc., 
diffident, perfidy, etc.] 1. The assent of the 
mind to the truth of a proposition or statement 
for which there is not complete evidence; be- 
lief in general. 
I shall make some inquiry into the nature and grounds 
of faith or opinion: whereby I mean that assent which we 
give to any proposition as true, of whose truth yet we have 
no certain knowledge. Locke. 
Faith is in popular language taken to mean the accep- 
tation of something as true which is not known to l>e true. 
Eiicyc. Brit., III. 532. 
Specifically 2. Firm belief based upon con- 
fidence in the authority and veracity of an- 
other, rather than upon one's own knowledge, 
reason, or judgment ; earnest and trustful con- 
fidence : as, to have faith in the testimony of a 
witness ; to have faith in a friend. 
Faith ... is the assent to any proposition, not . . . 
made out by the deductions of reason, but upon the credit 
of the proposer, as coming from God in some extraordi- 
nary way of communication. 
Locke, Human Understanding, IV. xviii. 2. 
The true nature of the faith of a Christian consists of 
this, that it is an assent unto truths credited upon the 
testimony of God delivered unto us in the writings of the 
apostles and prophet*. Bp. Pearson, Expos, of Creed. 
The faith of mankind is guided to a man only by a well- 
founded faith in himself. 
Lowell, Among my Books, 2d ser., p. 224. 
In a more restricted sense: (a) In theol., spiritual per- 
ception of the invisible objects of religious veneration; a 
belief founded on such spiritual perception. 
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence 
of things not seen. Heb. xi. 1. 
Unschooled by Faith, who, with her angel tread. 
Leads through the labyrinth with a single thread. 
O. W. Holmes, Poetry. 
Faith, then, is that which, when probabilities are equal, 
ventures on God's side, and on the side of right, on the 
guarantee of a something within which makes the thing 
seem true because loved. 
F. W. Robertson, Sermon on the Faith of the Centurion. 
Faith, is : the being able to cleave to a power of good- 
ness appealing to our higher and real self, not to our lower 
and apparent self. il. Arnold, Literature and Dogma, vii. 
(b) Belief or confidence in a person, founded upon a per- 
ception of his moral excellence : as, faith in Christ. 
By Faith, Saint Peter likewise did restore 
A Palsie-sick, that eight yeers did indure. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Triumph of Faith, iiii. 11. 
The faith of the gospel, whatever maybe its immediate 
object, is no other than confidence in the moral character 
of God, especially of the Redeemer. 
Dici'iht, Theol., II. 833. 
(c) Intuitive belief. 
3. The doctrines or articles which are the sub- 
jects of belief, especially of religious belief; a 
creed; a system of religion; specifically, the 
Christian religion. See confession of faith, un- 
der confession, 3. 
Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is neces- 
sary that he hold the Catholic Faith. Which Faith ex- 
cept every one do keep whole and undented, without doubt 
he shall perish everlastingly. Athanaiian Creed (trans.). 
Faith, in its generic sense, either means the holding 
rightly the creeds of the Catholic Church, or means that 
very Catholic/ai'f/i, which, except a man believe faithfully, 
he cannot be saved. Hook, Church Diet., p. 332. 
4. Becognition of and allegiance to the obli- 
gations of morals and honor ; adherence to the 
laws of right and wrong, especially in fulfil- 
ling one's promise ; faithfulness ; fidelity ; loy- 
alty. 
Haue thei me not offended whan thei haue begonne the 
foly and the treson vpon my felowes to whom I moste 
bere/eiA. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), iii. 497. 
To undergo 
Myself the total crime, or to accuse 
My other self, the partner of my life ; 
Whose failing, while her faith to me remains, 
I should conceal. Milton, P. L., x. 129. 
Kind hearts are more than coronets, 
And simple faith than Norman blood. 
Tennyson, Lady Clara Vere de Vere. 
There was only one good thing about them [the Doones], 
... to wit, their faith to one another. 
R. D. Blackmore, Lorna Doone, v. 
5. Fidelity expressed in a promise or pledge ; 
a pledge given. 
2122 
I have been forsworn 
In breaking /aif A with Julia, whom I lov'd. 
filmic., T. Q. of V., iv. 2. 
Here in a holy hill was a pit. whereof no man drinketh, 
by which the Indians binde their faith, as by the most sol- 
emne and inuiolable oath. Purchax, Pilgrimage, p. 457. 
Locke . . . contended that the Church which taught 
men not tokeep/aiM with heretics had noclaim to toler- 
ation. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., vi. 
6. Credibility; truth. [Rare.] 
The faith of the foregoing narrative. Mitford. 
Act Of faith. Same as autodefe. Acts Of faith. See 
act. Analogy Of faith. See analogy. Articles Of 
faith. See article.- Attic faith. See Attici. Cartha- 
ginian faith. Same as Punic faith. [Rare.] 
One of the company in an historical discourse was ob- 
serving that Carthaginian faith was a proverbial phrase 
to intimate breach of leagues. Steele, Spectator, No. 174. 
Confession of faith. See confession, 3. Defender of 
theFaith. See defender. Good faith, fidelity ; honesty ; 
bona fides. 
de [Need] shal do more than mesure many tyme andofte, 
And bete men ouer bitter and somme of hem to litel, 
And greue men gretter than goode faith it wolde. 
Piers Plowman (B), xx. 2s. 
So conspicuous an example of good faith punctiliously 
observed by a popish prince toward a Protestant nation 
would have quieted the public apprehensions. 
Macaulay, Hist. Eng., vi. 
In faith, in truth ; truly ; verily. 
The pope was gladde here-of in fay. 
Political Poems, etc. (ed. Furnivall), p. 87. 
Leon. By my troth, niece, thou wilt never get thee a 
husband if thou be so shrewd of thy tongue. 
Ant. In faith, she's too curst. Shak., Much Ado, ii. 1. 
[This phrase is often reduced to i' faith, or faith : Bee faith, 
inter}.] In good faith, in real honesty; with perfect 
sincerity : as, he fulfilled his engagements in good faith ; 
specifically, in the law of negotiable paper and of fraud, 
without notice of adverse claim, or of circumstances which 
should put a prudent man on inquiry as to whether there 
was such a claim. Punic faith [L. Punica fides], the 
faith of Carthage that is, bad faith; perfidy: from the 
popular reputation of the Carthaginians among the Ro- 
mans. This reputation probably rested on no more solid 
grounds than the French conception of la perjide Albion; 
and the Carthaginians may have entertained a notion 
equally opprobrious of Roman faith. =8yn. lands. Be- 
lief, Conviction, etc. (see persuasion) ; reliance, depen- 
dence, confidence. 3. Tenets, dogmas, religion, 
faitht (fath), t\ t. [< faith, .] To believe; 
credit. 
Dost thou think, 
If I would stand against thee, would the reposal 
Of any trust . virtue, or worth, in thee 
Make thy words faith'd' Shak., Lear, ii. 1. 
faith (fath), interj. [Abbr. of i' faith, ME. 
i faith, i. e., in faith. This phrase appears in 
many forms f faith, ifaeks, ifecks, etc., faiks, 
faix, facks, fecks, fegs, etc.] By my faith ; in 
truth; indeed. [Colloq.] 
Faith, I am very loth to utter it. 
B. Joiison, Every Man in his Humour, ii. 1. 
Or do the prints or papers lie? 
Faith, sir, you know as much as I. Swift. 
faith-breacht (fath'brech), . Breach of fidel- 
ity; disloyalty; perfidy. 
Now minutely revolts upbraid his faith-breach. 
Shak., Macbeth, v. 2. 
faith-cure (fath'kur), n. A bodily cure effected 
or supposed to be effected by prayer made with 
belief in its efficacy for the purpose ; the prac- 
tice of attempting to cure disease by prayer and 
religious faith alone. 
A faith-cure is a cure wrought by God in answer to 
prayer, without any other means. 
The Century, XXXI. 274. 
faith-curer (fath'kur // er), n. One who prac- 
tises or believes in the faith-cure. 
The miracles claimed by the faith-curers are in the 
same line of argument. Pop. Sci. Mo., XXXII. 507. 
faithedt, a. [ME. feytlied; < faith, n., + -e<&.~\ 
Possessed of faith. 
Than are they folk that han most God in awe, 
And strengest-/eirtAed ben. Chaucer, Troilus, i. 1007. 
faithful (fath'ful), a. and n. [< ME. feythfull, 
feithfull, etc. ; < faith + -ful.'] I. a. 1. Full 
of faith; having faith; believing. 
So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful 
Abraham. Gal. iii. 9. 
faithless 
Lordynges, ye be worthi men and of high renoun, and 
also ye be'th right feith-futt and trewe. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. l:;u. 
Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a 
crown of life. Rev. ii. Hi. 
The seraph Abdiel, faithful found 
Aiming the faithless, faithful only he. 
Milt,,n, P. L., v. 898. 
3. Observant of compacts, treaties, contracts, 
vows, or other engagements ; true to one's word: 
as, a government faithful to its treaties; faitli- 
ful to one's word. 4. Trustworthy; true; ex- 
act; conforming to the letter and spirit; con- 
formable to truth or to a prototype: as, & faith- 
ful execution of a will; a fai tliful narrative; a 
faithful likeness. 
Not always right in all men's eyes, 
But faithful to the light within. 
0. W. Holmes, A Birthday Tribute. 
The microscope reveals miniature butchery in atomies, 
and infinitely small biters that swim and fight in an illu- 
minated drop of water ; and the little globe is but a too 
faithful miniature of the large. Emerson, War. 
Before the invention of printing, painting was the most 
faithful mirror of the popular mind ; and . . . there was 
scarcely an intellectual movement that it did not reflect. 
Lecky, Rationalism, I. 74. 
5. True; worthy of belief; truthful: as, a 
faithful witness. 
A faithful witness will not lie : but a false witness will 
utter lies. I'rov. xiv. 5. 
This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation. 
1 Tim. i. 15. 
= Syn. 2. Truthful, careful, trusty, trustworthy, stanch, 
incorruptible, reliable. 4. Close, strict, accurate, consci- 
entious. 
II. n. A faithful person. 
We likewise call to mind your other bill for his majesty's 
referring the choice of his privy-council unto you, coloured 
by your outcries against those his old faithftds. 
British Bellman, 1648 (Harl. Misc., VII. 626). 
The faithful IL. fidele*). (a) In the primitive church, 
those who had been received by baptism into church 
communion; believers; Christians. The title appears fre- 
quently in ancient inscriptions, particularly in the case of 
young children, who might otherwise be supposed to have 
died unbaptized. It is still used with the same significance 
in the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches. (6) Among 
Mohammedans, the true believers: hence the calif is called 
"Commander of the Faithful." (c) In political use, the 
general body of unquestioning adherents of a party : used 
in contempt by members of other parties. 
faithfully (fath'ful-i), adv. [< ME. feithefulty, 
fei/thefutlye; < faithful + jA] 1. In a faith- 
ful manner ; with fidelity ; loyally. 
I ... will do him service well siud faithfully. 
William Mori-is, Earthly Paradise, II. 283. 
He warned hem feythefullye 
What they shuld suffre are [ere] they shuld dye. 
Robert of Britnne, Medit., p. 249. 
2. Sincerely; with strong assurance ; earnest- 
ly: as, he faithfully promised. 
It is gret harm that he belevethe \\otfeithefiilly in God. 
ilandeville, Travels, p. 246. 
Lady F. Hast thou denied thyself a Faulconhridge ? 
Bast. As faithfully as I deny the devil. 
Shak., K. John, i. 1. 
3. Conformably to truth or fact ; in true ac- 
cordance with an example or prototype : as, the 
battle was faithfully described or represented. 
They suppose the nature of things to he faithfully signi- 
fied by their names. South. 
What he discovered, he faithfully committed first to 
paper in water colours, and then to copperplate with the 
burin. J. A. Symonds, Italy and Greece, p. 268. 
faithfulness (fath'ful-nes), n. [< faithful + 
-ness.} The quality or character of being faith- 
ful; fidelity; truth; loyalty; constancy. 
Give ear to my supplications : in thy faithfulness an- 
swer me, and in thy righteousness. Ps. cxliii. 1. 
= Syn. Cmutancy, Fidelity, etc. See firmness. 
faith-healer (fath'he'ler), n. One who prac- 
tises the faith-cure. 
All faith-healers should report as do our hospitals. 
The Century, XXXI. 276. 
faith-healing (fath'he"ling), n. Faith-cure. 
That there is really such a thing as Faith Healing ap- 
pears to my judgment a fact beyond dispute. 
F. P. Cobbe, Contemporary Rev., LI. 794. 
You are not faithful, sir. This night I'll change 
All that is metal in my house to gold. 
B. Jonson, Alchemist, ii. 1. 
Thrice blest whose lives are .faith/ul prayers, 
Whose loves in higher love endure. 
Tennyson, In Memoriam, xxxii. 
2. Firm in faith; full of loyalty and fidelity; f> faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be 
true and constant in affection or allegiance to with > ' ou? how lo "* sha " : 8Uffer >' 011? slat - "" u - 
a person to whom one is bound, or in the per- 
formance of duties or services ; exact in attend- 
ing to commands: as, a, faithful subject; a, faith- 
ful servant; a faithful husband or wife. 
Feithfullere frenchipe saw never frek [man] on erthe. 
William of Palerne (E. E. T. S.), 1. 5434. 
faithless (fath'les), a. [< faith + -less.] 1. 
Without faith or belief ; not giving credit ; un- 
believing; especially, without religious faith 
or faith in the Christian religion; skeptical. 
And never dare misfortune cross her foot, 
Unless she do it under this excuse 
That she is issue to & faithless Jew. 
Shak., M. of V., ii. 4. 
Ring out the want, the care, the sin, 
The faithless coldness of the times. 
Tennyson, In Memoriam, cvi. 
