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Who popularized the term "Manifest Destiny"?

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manifest

American  

[man-uh-fest] / ˈmæn əˌfɛst /

verb (used with object)

• manifests,
  present (3rd person singular)
• manifested,
  past participle,  past
• manifesting
  present participle

1. to make clear or evident; show plainly.

   He manifested his approval with a hearty laugh.

   Synonyms:

   express, declare, demonstrate, evidence, evince, disclose, reveal

   Antonyms:

   conceal

2. to prove; put beyond doubt or question.

   The evidence manifests the guilt of the defendant.

3. to attempt to attain (something desired) by thinking or focusing intensely on it, especially as a spiritual or self-help practice.

   I'm manifesting a new job this year.

   We cut out toxic people and manifested new friends more on our wavelength.

4. to record in the manifest of a ship, airplane, train, etc.

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verb (used without object)

• manifests,
  present (3rd person singular)
• manifested,
  past participle,  past
• manifesting
  present participle

1. to appear or become apparent.

   The change we've been agitating for is finally manifesting in public policy.

   Damage to the house's foundation can manifest slowly over time.

2. to be created; take form.

   The course allows designers to visualize how their designs could manifest.

   His book claims we are beings of light that have manifested in physical bodies.

3. Medicine/Medical.

   1. (of a disease or injury) to become evident through the appearance of particular symptoms.

      This type of infection typically manifests with rashes, swelling, and pain.

   2. (of a patient) to have a certain symptom or medical condition.

      People who experience work-related stress often manifest with chronic digestive disorders.

4. to attempt to attain something desired by thinking about or focusing intensely on it, especially as a spiritual or self-help practice.

   The guru was trying to teach us how to manifest by using meditation and deep concentration.

adjective

1. readily perceived; evident; obvious; apparent; plain.

   The data you've shown us contains a manifest error.

   Synonyms:

   conspicuous, visible, palpable, open, patent, unmistakable, distinct, clear

   Antonyms:

   obscure

2. Psychoanalysis. of or relating to conscious feelings, ideas, and impulses that contain repressed psychic material.

   the manifest content of a dream as opposed to the latent content that it conceals.

noun

• manifests
  plural

1. a list of the cargo or goods carried by a ship, airplane, train, etc., made for the use of various agents and officials at the points of destination.

2. a list of the passengers carried on a ship, airplane, train, etc.

manifest British  

/ ˈmænɪˌfɛst /

adjective

1. easily noticed or perceived; obvious; plain

2. psychoanal of or relating to the ostensible elements of a dream Compare latent

   manifest content

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verb

1. (tr) to show plainly; reveal or display

   to manifest great emotion

2. (tr) to prove beyond doubt

3. (intr) (of a disembodied spirit) to appear in visible form

4. (tr) to list in a ship's manifest

noun

1. a customs document containing particulars of a ship, its cargo, and its destination

2. 1. a list of cargo, passengers, etc, on an aeroplane

   2. a list of railway trucks or their cargo

   3. a fast freight train carrying perishables

Usage

What does manifest mean? Manifest describes something that is readily understood, obvious, or apparent upon viewing, as in Saying the sky is full of flying pigs is manifest nonsense. To manifest something is to prove beyond all doubt, as in Climate change is manifesting itself through the increase of superstorms. To manifest also means to display or show plainly, as in Clara’s embarrassment manifested itself on her face as a blush. A manifest is a list of cargo carried by a plane, ship, truck, or train. To manifest the cargo is to list it on a manifest. Example: He managed to manifest a smile despite being so uncomfortable.

Synonym Usage

See display.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• manifester
  noun
• manifestness
  noun
• nonmanifestness
  noun
• premanifest
  verb
• remanifest
  verb (used with object)
• supermanifest
  verb (used with object)
• manifestable
  adjective
• nonmanifest
  adjective
• self-manifest
  adjective
• unmanifest
  adjective
• manifestly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• manifests
  plural

Participles

• manifesting
  present
• manifested
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• manifest
  simple
• manifests
  simple
• have manifested
  perfect
• has manifested
  perfect
• am manifesting
  progressive
• are manifesting
  progressive
• is manifesting
  progressive
• have been manifesting
  perfect progressive
• has been manifesting
  perfect progressive

Past

• manifested
  simple
• had manifested
  perfect
• was manifesting
  progressive
• were manifesting
  progressive
• had been manifesting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will manifest
  simple
• will have manifested
  perfect
• will be manifesting
  progressive
• will have been manifesting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of manifest

First recorded in 1350–1400; (adjective) Middle English manifest(e), from Latin manifestus, manufestus “detected in the act, evident, visible”; (verb) Middle English manifesten, from Middle French manifester, from Latin manifestāre, derivative of manifestus. See manus

Explanation

Choose the verb manifest when someone shows something for everyone to notice. You might manifest your dislike of school food by stirring it around into a big pile of slop on your tray. Coming from the Latin manifestus, "caught in the act," manifest can be used as an adjective or a noun as well as a verb. As an adjective, manifest is a formal way to say that something is apparent to the senses and is synonymous with evident, apparent, or clear. If you have strong feelings about something, they will be manifest on your face. A ship or plane's manifest is the list of cargo or passengers on a particular trip.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

manifest manifests manifested manifesting

“Accordingly, the opportunity for error and other failure with this new IT system comparing a batch manifest with the new statewide list is high.”

From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026

According to a toll given on Sunday, 41 people were missing and five dead from a total manifest of 271 people.

From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026

Creeping doubts about the hyperscalers’ return on investment have started to manifest in other ways.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026

“We said, ‘Let’s put it to the universe: Universe, why don’t you manifest that somebody buys the rights to the show and decides to reboot it and bring us all back.’

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026

Schizophrenia isn’t supposed to manifest until a person’s late teens, at the earliest, but I’d gotten a shot of it at just seven years old.

From "Made You Up" by Francesca Zappia

One of the book’s most powerful points is that technology is not neutral but, like any text, manifests its creators’ decisions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

But the petroleum products are masked in manifests — labeled waste material, lubricants, residues and other items not subject to the high taxes that Mexico levies on imported fuel.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026

I suspect that experience gave her a very strong civil libertarian instinct that manifests here as a deep skepticism towards state power to criminalize gun possession.

From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2026

This broader, decentralized spirit manifests visibly across the country.

From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026

Ama’s Adinkra symbol manifests into that same magnetic force that had brought Lala back to the ship.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

The complex intricacies of language manifested on Eimbcke’s first bilingual set.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026

For now, the AI boom “has mostly manifested through a surge in demand for computing capacity and infrastructure and a raging bull market in stocks,” Beamish’s team wrote in a Friday client note.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026

"There does seem to be an increase in the visibility of it. We're looking at organised crime that has manifested because nobody has put it away, nobody has forced it underground," says Glantz.

From BBC ● Jun. 7, 2026

Their failure to qualify for the World Cup in 2018 fractured a sense of hope manifested by the more naive, stone-washed-denim-clad days.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026

But the horror movie suspense-buildup scene I’ve manifested distracts me.

From "Love, Hate & Other Filters" by Samira Ahmed

Instead of blanket-dismissing tech entrepreneurs or wholesale manifesting a god in the machine, Pope Leo has sought a careful, studied, moral middle ground: one that encourages technological progress but upholds human dignity above all.

From Slate ● May 28, 2026

The idea of manifesting oneself through one’s work was part of the West Coast feminist movement.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 5, 2026

We looked up, taking in Ross in all his Afro-permed glory, manifesting a leafy forest out of what had been a mountain’s dense shadow.

From Salon ● May 2, 2026

The energy shock is manifesting in the U.S.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026

“Did you seriously have to call them the minute I left the room? Tell me, was it like a physical impulse? Goody-goody syndrome manifesting itself?”

From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon

Related Words

• demonstrate
• embody
• illustrate
• prove
• reveal
• signify