manifestation

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English manifestacioun,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Late Latin manifestātiō,^{[5][3][6][7][8]} a noun of action from manifestātus, the past participle of manifestō (“to discover, disclose, make public”),^[3][6][8][4] from manifestus (“clear, evident”).^[3][4] The OED finds the Latin noun first in the Vetus Latina, the old Latin Bible.^[5] Manifestus is probably formed from manus (“hand”) and an element -festus, found also in infestus;^[3][4] Etymonline cites de Vaan, who finds none of the further connections compelling.^[3] The OED compares French manifestation (“revelation”) (about 1200), Spanish manifestación (1495) and Italian manifestazione (1569).^[5] It is related to manifest.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The act of showing or revealing; exhibition, demonstration: before 1425, in the Orcherd of Syon, a translation of Catherine of Siena.^[5][2][3]

Semantic evolution

The early sense was the disclosure of something secret or unseen, and also an explanation, a use now obsolete.^[3][5] From 1646 the word was used for an instance of making manifest, or the outward form in which something appears;^[5] Etymonline dates "an object or action by which something is made manifest" to 1785.^[3] In the Church it could mean making known the state of one's conscience (1657).^[5] Two short-lived senses were a process of Spanish law (1769–1818) and a display of force by a government (1823–48).^[5] Spiritualists from 1853 spoke of the manifestations by which a spirit's presence was supposedly perceived,^[5][3] and since 1875 a manifestation was also a public demonstration, after the French use of 1867.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1425 – the action of making manifest; exhibition, revelation.^[5][2]
• 1646 – an instance or outward form of something.^[5]
• 1657 – Christian Church, disclosing the state of one's conscience.^[5]
• 1769 – Spanish law, a protective process (obsolete by 1818).^[5]
• 1823 – a display of power by a government (obsolete by 1848).^[5]
• 1853 – spiritualism, signs of a spirit's presence.^[5][3]
• 1875 – a public demonstration.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of showing or displaying something, or the state of being shown: a manifestation of goodwill.^[9][6][5]
2. A sign, form or symptom in which something shows itself: Fatigue can be an early manifestation of the illness.^[9][6][5]
3. A public demonstration of feeling or opinion.^[9][5]
4. (spiritualism) A phenomenon held to show the presence of a spirit, or the materialization of one.^[9][5]

Word family

• nonmanifestation
• remanifestation

Related words

• manifest
• manifesto
• infest

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins