Manichaeism
/mænɪˈkiːɪz(ə)m/
Manichaeism proper noun: a syncretic, dualistic religion that combines elements of Zoroastrian, Christian, and Gnostic thought, founded by the Iranian prophet Mani in the 3rd century AD.
Proper noun
Manichaeism
- A syncretic, dualistic religion that combines elements of Zoroastrian, Christian, and Gnostic thought, founded by the Iranian prophet Mani in the 3rd century AD.
- A dualistic philosophy dividing the world between good and evil principles, or regarding matter as intrinsically evil and mind as intrinsically good.
- In Manichaeism, as Benny Goodman used to sing, it's “Gotta Be This or That.” One thing or the other will triumph, in this dualistic view, and the winner is supposed to be determined in an apocalyptic struggle involving a world conflagration.1988 June 12, William Safire, “No Shades of Gray”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
Manichaeism meaning in Arabic, Persian, Thai and Vietnamese
Manichaeism in Arabic
- religion
- مَانَوِيَّة mānawiyya
Manichaeism in Persian
- religion
- مانویه mânaviye
Manichaeism in Thai
- religion
- ศาสนามาณีกี
Manichaeism in Vietnamese
- religion
- Ma Ni giáo, Mani giáo
Synonyms of Manichaeism
Forms of Manichaeism
| alternative form | Manichaism |
|---|---|
| alternative form | Manicheism |
| alternative form (obsolete) | Manichæism |
Origin of Manichaeism
From Latin Manichaismus, from Koine Greek Μανιχαϊσμός (Manikhaïsmós), from Μανιχαῖος (Manikhaîos, “Manichaeus”) [from Classical Syriac ܡܐܢܝ ܚܝܐ (Mānī ḥayyā, “Living Mani”), from ܡܐܢܝ (Mānī, “Mani”, the name of its founder) + ܚܝܐ (ḥayyā, “living, alive”)] + -ισμός (-ismós). By surface analysis, Manichaeus + -ism. Although Manichaeism is the most widespread spelling in English, it is a hypercorrection. The expected derivation from Koine Greek Μανιχαϊσμός (Manikhaïsmós) and Latin Manichaismus is Manichaism (compare with Judaism, from Ancient Greek Ἰουδαϊσμός (Ioudaïsmós), or with archaism, from Ancient Greek ἀρχαϊσμός (arkhaïsmós)).
Questions about Manichaeism
- What does Manichaeism mean?
- Manichaeism means a syncretic, dualistic religion that combines elements of Zoroastrian, Christian, and Gnostic thought, founded by the Iranian prophet Mani in the 3rd century AD.
- What is Manichaeism in Arabic?
- Manichaeism in Arabic is مَانَوِيَّة (mānawiyya). See Manichaeism meaning in Arabic.
- What part of speech is Manichaeism?
- Manichaeism is a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce Manichaeism?
- Manichaeism is pronounced /mænɪˈkiːɪz(ə)m/.
Words near Manichaeism in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: Manichaeism (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Manichaeism.wav.
Cite this entry: “Manichaeism.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/manichaeism. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.