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Construe vs Believe - What's the difference?

construe | believe |

As verbs the difference between construe and believe

is that construe is to interpret or explain the meaning of something while believe is (label) to accept as true, particularly without absolute certainty (ie, as opposed to knowing).

As a noun construe

is a translation.

construe

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A translation.
  • An interpretation.
  • Verb

    (en-verb)
  • To interpret or explain the meaning of something.
  • The world must construe''' according to its wits; this court must '''construe according to the law.
    , 1954
  • (grammar) To analyze the grammatical structure of a clause or sentence.
  • *
  • Thus, in a sentence such as:
    (113)      John considers [S Fred'' to be too sure of ''himself'']
    the italicised Reflexive ''himself'' can only be construed''' with ''Fred'', not with ''John'': this follows from our assumption that non-subject Reflexives must have an antecedent within their own S. Notice, however, that in a sentence such as:
    (114)      ''John'' seems to me [S — to have perjured ''himself'']
    ''himself'' must be '''construed
    with ''John
    .
  • To translate.
  • Derived terms

    * construction * misconstrue

    Anagrams

    * * * * ----

    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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