Origin: Germanic Old English prefix
Definition, synonyms and related words
simple past tense and past participle of believe
"She believed that her dog had chased a squirrel until she saw him sitting calmly on the porch."
In plain English: Believed means thinking something is true because you trust it or have good reason to think so.
"She believed that her friend was telling the truth."
Usage: Use "believed" to describe an action where someone held a specific opinion or thought something was true in the past. It functions as the simple past tense or past participle of believe when referring to former convictions that may or may not be accurate now.
Derived from Old French belever (to raise up) via Latin bellare, this past tense form originally meant to be lifted or elevated before evolving into its current sense of accepting something as true. Note: The actual root is Latin credere "to trust, believe," entering English through Anglo-Norman and Middle French; the earlier confusion with belever was a folk etymology that did not influence the word's history. Believed comes from Old French creire, which traces back to Latin credere.