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Manifesto Has Latin Roots
Manifesto is related to manifest, which occurs in English as a noun, verb, and adjective. Of these, the adjective, which means "readily perceived by the senses," is oldest, dating to the 14th century. Both manifest and manifesto derive ultimately from the Latin noun manus ("hand") and -festus, a combining form of uncertain meaning that is also found in the Latin adjective infestus ("hostile"), an ancestor of the English infest. Something that is manifest is easy to perceive or recognize, and a manifesto is a statement in which someone makes his or her intentions or views easy for people to ascertain. Perhaps the most well-known statement of this sort is the Communist Manifesto, written in 1848 by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels to outline the platform of the Communist League.
Examples of manifesto in a Sentence
Michael Sinkewicz, FOXNews.com, 26 Dec. 2025
In Ron Howard's true-life historical thriller, Jude Law and Vanessa Kirby are 1930s German lovers working on philosophical manifestos on a remote island in the Galápagos.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 23 Dec. 2025
Girls Play Dead isn’t a manifesto, or a call to action.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 22 Dec. 2025
Krebs had no manifesto or writings that mentioned any plans for violence, the district attorney said.
—Tom Dougherty, CBS News, 18 Dec. 2025
While never offering a direct theoretical manifesto, her stories nonetheless reinforce her status as possibly the twentieth century’s most gifted short-story writer.
—Literary Hub, 17 Dec. 2025
Then there’s Stardust—the closest thing hyperpop has had to a real community manifesto in album form since 100 gecs’ remix tape.
—Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 17 Dec. 2025
Part of Machado’s manifesto was ominous for Maduro.
—Brian Bennett, Time, 11 Dec. 2025
Other photos unsealed Tuesday included the gun allegedly used by Mangione to fatally shoot Thompson, as well a silencer and a red notebook that contained his manifesto, according to prosecutors.
—Joshua Rhett Miller, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Manifesto.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/manifesto. Accessed 31 Dec. 2025.
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