Manichaeism

English Alternative forms en Manichaism en Manicheism en Manichæism obsolete Etymology From en la Manichaismus, from en grc-koi Μανιχαϊσμός, from grc-koi Μανιχαῖος Manichaeus [from en syc ܡܐܢܝ ܚܝܐ Syrc Mānī ḥayyā Living Mani, from syc ܡܐܢܝ Mānī Mani (prophet) Mani the name of its founder + syc ܚܝܐ Syrc ḥayyā living, alive] grc 1 -ισμός. en Manichaeus -ism. Although Manichaeism is the most widespread spelling in English, it is a hypercorrection. The expected derivation from grc-koi Μανιχαϊσμός and la Manichaismus is en Manichaism (compare with en Judaism, from grc Ἰουδαϊσμός, or with en archaism, from grc ἀρχαϊσμός). Pronunciation en /mænɪˈkiːɪz(ə)m/<ref:manichaeism> en /ˈmænɪkiːɪz(ə)m/ en less commonly en LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Manichaeism.wav Southern England Proper noun en religion A syncretic, dualistic religion that combines elements of Zoroastrian, Christian, and Gnostic thought, founded by the Iranian prophet Mani in the 3rd century AD. en philosophy A dualistic philosophy dividing the world between good and evil principles, or regarding matter as intrinsically evil and mind as intrinsically good. en w:William Safire No Shades of Gray The New York Times 1988-06-12 https://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/12/magazine/on-language-no-shades-of-gray.html 0362-4331 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. https://web.archive.org/web/20251104124113/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/12/magazine/on-language-no-shades-of-gray.html 4 November 2025 Synonyms en Manichaeanism/Manicheanism Related terms en Manichaean/Manichean Manichaic Manichaist/Manichaeist Translations religion Afrikaans: af Manigeïsme Amharic: am ማኒኪስም Arabic: ar مَانَوِيَّة f Armenian: hy մանիքեություն Asturian: ast maniqueísmu m Bulgarian: bg манихейство n Catalan: ca maniqueisme m Chinese: Mandarin: cmn 摩尼教 móníjiào, cmn 明教 Czech: cs manicheismus m, cs manichejství n Danish: da manikæisme c Esperanto: eo Maniĥeismo, eo Manikeismo Estonian: et manilus, et manihheism Finnish: fi manikealaisuus French: fr manichéisme m, fr manichaïsme m Galician: gl maniqueísmo m German: de Manichäismus m Greek: el μανιχαϊσμός m Hungarian: hu manicheizmus Icelandic: is manikeismi m Italian: it manicheismo m Japanese: ja マニ教, ja 摩尼教 Manikyō Khmer: km សាសនាម៉ានី Korean: ko 마니교 Latin: la Manichaismus m Occitan: oc maniqueïsme m Persian: fa مانویه mânaviye Polish: pl manicheizm m-in Portuguese: pt maniqueísmo f Romanian: ro maniheism n Russian: ru манихеизм m, ru манихейство n Spanish: es maniqueísmo m Swedish: sv manikeism c Thai: th ศาสนามาณีกี Turkish: tr Manihaizm, tr Manicilik Vietnamese: vi Ma Ni giáo, vi Mani giáo Volapük: vo manig philosophy Chinese: Mandarin: cmn 摩尼教 móníjiào Finnish: fi manikealaisuus Polish: pl manicheizm m-in Spanish: es References en eponyms hypercorrections