Definition of MANIFESTO

Manifesto Has Latin Roots

Noun

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.

Examples of manifesto in a Sentence

Noun

The group's manifesto focused on helping the poor and stopping violence.

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak before launching his coalition's election manifesto ahead of the upcoming polls during a National Front coalition or Barisan Nasional rally, in Kuala Lumpur on April 7, 2018. — Time, "Twitter Has a Big Problem in Southeast Asia: Bots Before the Ballot in Malaysia and Beyond," 4 May 2018 The manifesto will reportedly include a roadmap for stopping Brexit. — Natasha Bach, Fortune, "Billionaire George Soros Is Backing a Massive Campaign for a Second Brexit Vote. But Does It Stand a Chance?," 30 May 2018 The students take Solanas’ recommendations to heart and begin adapting their lives to the extremes espoused by the manifesto. — Lauren Delgado, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Review: 'SCUM: A Manifesto' - Orlando Fringe 2018," 17 May 2018 The manifesto was hardly what you’d expect from the CEO of a mammoth company. — David Kirkpatrick, Time, "The Facebook Defect," 12 Apr. 2018 But the manifesto has had an influence, says Andrew Lavali, the executive director of the Institute for Governance Reform, a Sierra Leonean think-tank that helped spearhead the initiative. — James Courtright, The Christian Science Monitor, "Sierra Leone's elections may look like a party – but pride in the polls is serious," 6 Mar. 2018 Muthoni Drummer Queen, musician This rapper, singer, and drummer fuses her upbeat dancehall with feminist manifestos. — Mosha Lundström Halbert, Vogue, "The Kenyan Cool Girl’s Guide to Nairobi," 2 July 2018 Creating a city in a building Teatum described the coliving projects—the main focus for Noiascape, based on its manifesto—as a reaction to changes impacting London and other big cities. — Patrick Sisson, Curbed, "Creative coliving from London designers recreates a ‘city in a building’," 19 Apr. 2018 In 2015, dozens of academics, entrepreneurs, and CEOs—including the cofounders and CEOs of Lyft, Handy, and Instacart—signed a manifesto calling for such a system. — Miranda Katz, WIRED, "How an App Could Give Some Gig Workers a Safety Net," 9 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'manifesto.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.