Key Difference: Trust and believe have deeper meanings when it comes to using it in relationships. Trust would actually mean that a person places complete confidence in another person. Respect is a term that defines the feeling of holding an entity or person in a high esteem, or valuing their opinions greatly. Respect requires the person to garner a feeling of awe for the person that he/she respects.

Trust and respect are two different words that often go hand-in-hand. For a person to trust someone you need to respect them, while respecting someone also demands for trusting them. The second statement isn’t always true as many you can look to up to many people but not trust them. That all boils down to the definition of trust, which basically means having faith that the person will do what is best for the person that is trusting. However, in some cases one may respect many people but that does not mean that the person is looking to do what is best for the individual. Let’s take a deeper look into both of these words.

Trust has a deeper meaning when it comes to using it in relationships. Trust would actually mean that a person places complete confidence and in another person. The person believes that the person he/she is trusting will not harm them in any way and will always look out for them. For example: a person that allows a friend to borrow his car, he has faith that the person would not harm his car and would return in the same condition that he/she borrowed. Another example includes borrowing money. If a person lend his friend money, he ‘trusts’ that the friend would return the money in due time. Trust is a permanent concept, where a person that is trusted is usually trusted for life, until that person breaks that trust. If either party breaks the trust, it takes a long time to build it back. The term ‘trust’ is derived from Old Norse word ‘traust’ meaning “trust, protection, firmness”.

Dictionary.com defines ‘trust’ as:

• Reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.
• Confident expectation of something; hope.
• Confidence in the certainty of future payment for property or goods received; credit: to sell merchandise on trust.
• A person on whom or thing on which one relies: God is my trust.
• The condition of one to whom something has been entrusted.

Respect is a term that defines the feeling of holding an entity or person in a high esteem, or valuing their opinions greatly. Basically, respecting someone is looking up to that person and believing that he/she is something great. Respect requires the person to garner a feeling of awe for the person that he/she respects. They hold that particular person, nation, group, organization, religion, etc. in the highest standards. They believe that the entity is worth listening to or that they can do no wrong. Respect is considered to be a concept that must be earned and is considered to be one of the hardest things to earn. It requires the person to do something great or be someone great. It is also considered as a give and take feeling, where in order to earn respect a person must also take respect.

Dictionary.com defines ‘respect’ as:

• Esteem for or a sense of the worth or excellence of a person, a personal quality or ability, or something considered as a manifestation of a personal quality or ability.
• The condition of being esteemed or honored.
• A particular, detail, or point.
• Relation or reference.
• Deference to a right, privilege, privileged position, or someone or something considered to have certain rights or privileges.

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