entry
faith
/feɪθ/Trust, belief, or confidence without complete proof
From Latin fid- / fides (trust).
from PIE root *bheidh- "to trust, confide, persuade"). For sense evolution, compare belief . It has been accommodated...
from Latin fides "trust, faith, confidence, reliance, credence, belief,"
+1 more sourcefrom Old French fei, feid
from Middle English faith (also fay), borrowed
Word Ancestry
from PIE root *bheidh- "to trust, confide, persuade"). For sense evolution, compare belief . It has been accommodated...
from Latin fides "trust, faith, confidence, reliance, credence, belief,"
+1 more sourcefrom Old French fei, feid
from Middle English faith (also fay), borrowed
Before faith became especially associated with religion, it could describe something much more ordinary: loyalty to a person, honesty in a promise, or confidence that someone would keep their word. Its Latin ancestor, fides, belonged to the practical world of trust—and it still peeks out in fidelity, fiduciary, confidence, and even perfidy, where trust has gone disastrously wrong. French fei and feid carried the word into Middle English, where English speakers gave it a familiar-looking -th ending, alongside truth, health, and ruth. By the early fourteenth century, faith had developed its modern sense of accepting a claim despite incomplete evidence; by the late fourteenth century, it could refer specifically to religious belief. So when someone says “keep faith,” the phrase preserves the oldest image of all: a promise placed in another person’s hands.
The Story
Before faith became especially associated with religion, it could describe something much more ordinary: loyalty to a person, honesty in a promise, or confidence that someone would keep their word. Its Latin ancestor, fides, belonged to the practical world of trust—and it still peeks out in fidelity, fiduciary, confidence, and even perfidy, where trust has gone disastrously wrong. French fei and feid carried the word into Middle English, where English speakers gave it a familiar-looking -th ending, alongside truth, health, and ruth. By the early fourteenth century, faith had developed its modern sense of accepting a claim despite incomplete evidence; by the late fourteenth century, it could refer specifically to religious belief. So when someone says “keep faith,” the phrase preserves the oldest image of all: a promise placed in another person’s hands.
Kin & Kindred
From 'fid- / fides'·trust, confidence, faith, reliance
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Etymonline
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary
Wikipedia
Wiktionary