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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
Literary Hub, 5 Feb. 2026
That show was a real manifesto of my taste.
—Matt Grobar, Deadline, 4 Feb. 2026
Some of his bolder earlier pledges did not make the election manifesto and others were watered down.
—Oliver Kay, New York Times, 30 Jan. 2026
This new volume expands on that sentiment, serving as another urgent manifesto for our tumultuous time.
—Los Angeles Times, 30 Jan. 2026
This isn’t a manifesto for everyone to quit their job.
—Alli Kushner, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026
Choices ranged from the Falun copper mine, which once furnished half of Europe’s copper, to the poet Edith Södergran, one of the first women to publish a modernist art manifesto.
—Colton Valentine, New Yorker, 24 Jan. 2026
Local media reported that the manifesto listed 231 people but that 199 passengers had arrived.
—Syra Ortiz Blanes, Miami Herald, 16 Jan. 2026
Nuriev, Maison&Objet’s Designer of the Year 2026, is preparing to unveil a new iteration of Transformism, his creative manifesto.
—Sofia Celeste, Footwear News, 14 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Manifesto.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/manifesto. Accessed 6 Feb. 2026.
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