Manichaeism

British  

/ ˈmænɪkiːˌɪzəm /

noun

1. the system of religious doctrines, including elements of Gnosticism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, Buddhism, etc, taught by the Persian prophet Mani about the 3rd century _ad . It was based on a supposed primordial conflict between light and darkness or goodness and evil

2. RC Church any similar heretical philosophy involving a radical dualism

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Other Word Forms

• Manichee
  noun

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Etymology

Origin of Manichaeism

C14: from Late Latin Manichaeus, from Late Greek Manikhaios of Mani

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Manichaeism

There’s an old religion called Manichaeism, which had this idea of basically light versus the dark.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2026

Outside this elite circle, however, Zoroastrianism had long been declining in popularity, while other religious traditions, including Nestorian Christianity and Manichaeism, grew.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023

That was during the reign of Tengri Bögü Qaghan, a Uyghur monarch who converted to Manichaeism, a religion that views existence as an epic struggle between good and evil.

From Science Magazine ● Apr. 13, 2023

I’d like to believe I wasn’t susceptible to the Manichaeism of good guys and bad guys, but I took the meeting.

From Slate ● Dec. 16, 2020

This assumed liberty, however is, as we apprehend, of the very essence of Rationalism; and it may be called the Manichaeism of interpretation.

From Reason and Faith; Their Claims and Conflicts From The Edinburgh Review, October 1849, Volume 90, No. CLXXXII. (Pages 293-356) by Henry Rogers

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