Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BE-LEE', v.t. [be and lee.]

To place on the lee, or in a position unfavorable to the wind. – Shak.

BEL'EM-NITE, n. [Gr. βελεμνον, a dart, or arrow, from βελος, from the root of βαλλω, pello, to throw.]

1. Arrow-head, or finger-stone; vulgarly called thunder-bolt, or thunder-stone. A genus of fossil shells, common in chalk and limestone. These shells consist of an interior cone, divided into partitions connected by a siphon, as in the nautilus, and surrounded by a number of concentric layers, made up of fibers radiating from the axis. These layers are somewhat transparent, and when burnt, rubbed or scraped, give the odor of rasped horn. The species are now extinct. – Encyc. Ed. Encyc.
2. A generic name for the organic remains of extinct fossil bodies of the class Cephalopodes. – Haldiman.

BE-LEP'ER, v.t.

To infect with leprosy. – Beaumont.

BEL'FRY, n. [Fr. befroy; barb. L. belfredus.]

1. Among military writers of the middle age, a tower erected by besiegers to overlook the place besieged, in which sentinels were placed to watch the avenues, and to prevent surprise from parties of the enemy, or to give notice of fires, by ringing a bell. – Encyc.
2. That part of a steeple, or other building, in which a bell is hung, and more particularly, the timber work which sustains it. – Encyc.

BEL-GARD', n. [Fr. bel and égard.]

A soft look or glance. [Not used.] – Spenser.

BEL'GI-AN, a. [See Belgic.]

Belonging to Belgica, or the Netherlands.

BEL'GI-AN, n.

A native of Belgica, or the Low Countries.

BEL'GIC, a. [L. belgicus, from Belgæ, the inhabitants of the Netherlands and the country bordering on the Rhine, from that river to the Seine and the ocean. The name may have been given to them from their bulk or large stature; W. balc, prominent, proud, from bal, a shooting out; Eng. bulge; Russ. velikai, great. See Pomp. Mela. lib. 3. 3, and 3. 5; Tac. Agric.; Joseph. de Bell. Jud. 2. 16; Herod. lib. 6; Strabo, lib. 4. Owen supposes the Welsh name, Belgiad, to have been given them, from their bursting forth and ravaging Britain and Ireland. But they had the name on the Continent, before their irruption into Britain.]

Pertaining to the Belgæ, who, in Cesar's time, possessed the country between the Rhine, the Seine and the ocean. They were of Teutonic origin, and, anterior to Cesar's invasion of Gaul and Britain, colonies of them had established themselves in the southern part of Britain. The country was called from its inhabitants Belgica, not Belgium, which was the town of Beauvais. See Cluv. Germ. Ant. 2. 2. Belgic is now applied to the Netherlands, called also Flanders, or that part of the Low Countries which formerly belonged to the House of Austria.

BE'LI-AL, n. [Heb. בליעל.]

As a noun, unprofitableness; wickedness. As an adjective, worthless; wicked. In a collective sense, wicked men. – Parkhurst.

BE-LI'BEL, v.t. [be and libel.]

To libel or traduce. – Fuller.

BE-LIE', v.t. [be and lie. Sax. belecgan, of be and leogan, to lie, lig, or lyg, a lie; D. beliegen; G. belügen, to belie. See Lie.]

1. To give the lie to; to show to be false; to charge with falsehood; as, the heart belies the tongue. It is rarely used of declarations; but of appearances and facts which show that declarations, or certain appearances and pretenses are false and hypocritical. Hence,
2. To counterfeit; to mimick; to feign resemblance. With dust, with horses' hoofs, that beat the ground, / And martial brass, belie the thunder's sound. Dryden.
3. To give a false representation. Should I do so, I should belie my thoughts. – Shak.
4. To tell lies concerning; to calumniate by false reports. Thou dost belie him, Percy. – Shak.
5. To fill with lies. Slander doth belie all corners of the world. – Shak.

BE-LI'ED, pp.

Falsely represented either by word or obvious evidence and indication; counterfeited; mimicked.

BE-LIEF', n. [Sax. geleaf, leave, license, permission, consent, assent, belief, faith, or trust; geleafan, gelefan, geliefan, gelyfan, to believe; leofan, to leave and to live. From these words, it appears that belief is from the root of leave, permission, assent; Sax. leaf, leave and belief, fides; leofa, permission, license; written also lif and lufa; lyfan, to permit; D. geloof, G. glaube, belief, credit, faith; gelooven, glauben, to believe; Dan. belover, to promise; D. oorlof, verlof, leave, permission; G. urlaub, leave, furlow. The primary sense of believe, is to throw or put to, or to assent to; to leave with or to rest on; to rely. See Leave and Live.]

1. A persuasion of the truth, or an assent of mind to the truth of a declaration, proposition, or alledged fact, on the ground of evidence, distinct from personal knowledge; as, the belief of the gospel; belief of a witness. Belief may also be founded on internal impressions, or arguments and reasons furnished by our own minds; as, the belief of our senses; a train of reasoning may result in belief. Belief is opposed to knowledge and science.
2. In theology, faith, or a firm persuasion of the truths of religion. No man can attain [to] belief by the bare contemplation of heaven and earth. – Hooker.
3. Religion; the body of tenets held by the professors of faith. In the heat of persecution, to which christian belief was subject, upon its first promulgation. – Hooker.
4. In some cases, the word is used for persuasion or opinion, when the evidence is not so clear as to leave no doubt; but the shades of strength in opinion can hardly be defined, or exemplified. Hence the use of qualifying words; as, a firm, full, or strong belief.
5. The thing believed; the object of belief. Superstitious prophecies are the belief of fools. – Bacon.
6. A creed; a form or summary of articles of faith. In this sense, we generally use Creed.

BE-LIEV'A-BLE, a.

That may be believed; credible. – Sherwood.

BE-LIEVE', v.i.

To have a firm persuasion of any thing. In some cases, to have a full persuasion, approaching to certainty; in others, more doubt is implied. It is often followed by in or on, especially in the Scriptures. To believe in, is, to hold as the object of faith. “Ye believe in God, believe also in me.” – John xiv. To believe on, is to trust, to place full confidence in, to rest upon with faith. “To them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” – John i. Johnson. But there is no ground for much distinction. In theology, to believe sometimes expresses a mere assent of the understanding to the truths of the gospel; as in the case of Simon. – Acts viii. In others, the word implies, with this assent of the mind, a yielding of the will and affections, accompanied with a humble reliance on Christ for salvation. – John i. 12. iii. 15. In popular use and familiar discourse, to believe often expresses an opinion in a vague manner, without a very exact estimate of evidence, noting a mere preponderance of opinion, and is nearly equivalent to think or suppose.

BE-LIEVE', v.t.

1. To credit upon the authority or testimony of another; to be persuaded of the truth of something upon the declaration of another, or upon evidence furnished by reasons, arguments, and deductions of the mind, or by other circumstances, than personal knowledge. When we believe upon the authority of another, we always put confidence in his veracity. When we believe upon the authority of reasoning, arguments, or a concurrence of facts and circumstances, we rest our conclusions upon their strength or probability, their agreement with our own experience, &c.
2. To expect or hope with confidence; to trust. I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. – Ps. xxvii.

BE-LIEV'ED, pp.

Credited; assented to, as true.

BE-LIEV'ER, n.

1. One who believes; one who gives credit to other evidence than that of personal knowledge.
2. In theology, one who gives credit to the truth of the Scriptures, as a revelation from God. In a more restricted sense, a professor of Christianity; one who receives the gospel, as unfolding the true way of salvation, and Christ, as his Savior. In the primitive Church, those who had been instructed in the truths of the gospel and baptized, were called believers; in distinction from the catechumens, who were under instruction, as preparatory to baptism and admission to church privileges. – Encyc.

BE-LIEV'ING, ppr.

Giving credit to testimony or to other evidence than personal knowledge.

BE-LIEV'ING-LY, adv.

In a believing manner.

BE-LIKE', adv. [be and like.]

Probably; likely; perhaps. But perhaps from be and the Dan. lykke, luck. By luck or chance.

BE-LIKE'LY, adv.

Probably. [Not used.] – Hall.

BE-LIME', v.t.

To besmear with lime. – Bp. Hall.

BE-LIT'TLE, v.t.

To make smaller; to lower in character.

BE-LIVE', adv. [See Live.]

Speedily; quickly. [Obs.] – Spenser.