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Agree vs Believe - What's the difference?

agree | believe |

In intransitive terms the difference between agree and believe

is that agree is to suit or be adapted in its effects; to do well while believe is to have religious faith; to believe in a greater truth.

agree

English

Verb

  • To harmonize in opinion, statement, or action; to be in unison or concord; to be or become united or consistent; to concur.
  • all parties agree in the expediency of the law.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1594
  • , author=Thomas Lodge , title=The wounds of civil war: Lively set forth in the true tragedies of Marius and Scilla , page=46 , passage=You know that in so great a state as this, Two mightie foes can never well agree .}}
  • * (rfdate) Shakespeare
  • If music and sweet poetry agree .
  • * (rfdate) Mark xiv. 56.
  • Their witness agreed not together.
  • * (rfdate) Sir T. Browne
  • The more you agree together, the less hurt can your enemies do you.
  • To yield assent; to accede;—followed by to.
  • to agree to an offer, or to opinion.
  • (transitive, UK, Irish) To yield assent to; to approve.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1666
  • , author=Samuel Pepys , title=The Diary of Samuel Pepys , page=88 , passage=... and there, after a good while in discourse, we did agree a bargain of £5,000 with Sir Roger Cuttance for my Lord Sandwich for silk, cinnamon, ...}}
  • * {{quote-book, year=2005
  • , author=Paddy McNutt , title=Law, economics and antitrust: towards a new perspective , page=59 , passage=The essential idea is that parties should enter the market, choose their contractors, set their own terms and agree a bargain.}}
  • * 2011 April 3, John Burke, in The Sunday Business Post :
  • Bishops agree sex abuse rules
  • To make a stipulation by way of settling differences or determining a price; to exchange promises; to come to terms or to a common resolve; to promise.
  • * (rfdate) Matt. v. 25.
  • Agree with thine adversary quickly.
  • * (rfdate) Matt. xx. 13.
  • Didst not thou agree with me for a penny ?
  • To be conformable; to resemble; to coincide; to correspond.
  • the picture does not agree with the original; the two scales agree exactly.
  • To suit or be adapted in its effects; to do well.
  • the same food does not agree with every constitution.
  • (grammar) To correspond to in gender, number, case, or person.
  • (legal) To consent to a contract or to an element of a contract.
  • Usage notes

    * This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive . See * The transitive usage could be considered as just an omission of to'' or ''upon . * US and Canadian English do not use the transitive form. Thus "they agreed on a price" or "they agreed to the conditions" are used in North America but not "they agreed a price" or "they agreed the conditions".

    Synonyms

    * assent, concur, consent, acquiesce, accede, engage, promise, stipulate, contract, bargain, correspond, harmonize, fit, tally, coincide, comport

    Antonyms

    * disagree

    Derived terms

    * disagree * disagreement

    Statistics

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    believe

    English

    Alternative forms

    * beleeve (obsolete)

    Verb

    (believ)
  • (label) To accept as true, particularly without absolute certainty (i.e., as opposed to knowing)
  • (Here, the speaker merely accepts the accuracy of the conditional.)
  • * 1611 , (King James Version of the Bible), 1:1 :
  • Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2014-06-21, volume=411, issue=8892, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Magician’s brain , passage=[Isaac Newton] was obsessed with alchemy. He spent hours copying alchemical recipes and trying to replicate them in his laboratory. He believed that the Bible contained numerological codes.}}
  • (label) To accept that someone is telling the truth.
  • (label) To have religious faith; to believe in a greater truth.
  • Usage notes

    * The transitive verb believe and the phrasal verb (m) are similar but can have very different implications. ** To “believe” someone or something means to accept specific pieces of information as truth: believe the news'', ''believe the lead witness . To “believe a complete stranger” means to accept a stranger's story with little evidence. ** To “believe in” someone or something means to hold confidence and trust in that person or concept: believe in liberty'', ''believe in God . To “believe in one's fellow man” means to place trust and confidence in mankind. * Meanings sometimes overlap. To believe in'' a religious text would also require affirming the truth of at least the major tenets. To ''believe a religious text might likewise imply placing one's confidence and trust in it, in addition to accepting its statements as facts.

    Derived terms

    * believable * believability * believer * believe in * believe it or not * believe one's eyes * believe you me * disbelieve * unbelievable * unbeliever

    Statistics

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