Believingness

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The degree to which something seems true, trustworthy, or capable of being accepted as real
2. The quality of appearing authentic or persuasive enough to gain acceptance or credence
3. The extent to which something strikes others as plausible, sincere, or worthy of being believed

Etymology: "Believingness" is a plain English formation: the adjective "believing" (from "believe") plus the suffix "-ness," which turns an adjective into a noun for a state or quality. "Believe" itself comes from Old English "belēfan," built from "be-" (an intensifying prefix) and "lēfan," meaning "to permit, allow, or hold dear," a word related to "lief" (willing, gladly). So the older sense of believing was closer to holding something dear or trusting it than to assenting to a proposition. "-Ness" has been a productive suffix since Old English, attached to adjectives such as "good" (goodness) and "kind" (kindness), so "believingness" follows an ordinary pattern. The noun is rare and mostly appears in theological or philosophical writing, where it names the condition or disposition of being a believer rather than a particular belief. Its exact date of first recorded use is uncertain.

Synonyms: credibility, believability, plausibility

Antonyms: incredulity, unbelievability