Word of the Day

: February 23, 2013

manifesto

noun man-uh-FESS-toh

What It Means

: a written statement declaring publicly the intentions, motives, or views of its issuer

manifesto in Context

On the day of his sudden departure from the company, Rick posted an angry manifesto on the bulletin board outlining his reasons for leaving.

"Mr. Eddie Lampert, the chairman of Sears Holdings and mastermind of the Kmart/Sears merger … famously published a 15-page manifesto in 2009 which covered everything from the economic meltdown to civil liberties, and contained a suggested reading list that included free-market Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek." - From an article by Mary Jane Quirk in Consumerist, January 8, 2013

Did You Know?

"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" or "easily recognized," is oldest, dating to the 14th century. Both "manifest" and "manifesto" derive ultimately from the Latin noun "manus" ("hand") and "-festus," a combining form that is related to the Latin adjective "infestus," meaning "hostile." 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 famous 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.