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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

Earlier, authorities reported that 86 were still unaccounted for, but as of Friday morning, the figure stood at 84 – two passengers whose names were on the ship's manifest did not go onboard, authorities say.

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

Others argue that the concerns themselves are overblown, noting that intelligence doesn’t always manifest as a will to dominate.

From Slate ● Sep. 9, 2026

A desire to reveal something just beneath the visible surface is manifest throughout, from the chiaroscuro studies of marble elevator banks to empty stairwells that spiral out of sight.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

Its coasts were settled separately, unlike the broad settler-driven western expansion of America’s manifest destiny.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

How does time manifest for a grieving god who’s been alive for millennia?

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

“It manifests into rage, into how unfair this was, how I didn’t get a say in what happened. I didn’t get to stop it from happening. I had no choice in the matter,” Jake said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026

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

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

“It can take a long time to track down a source, in part because cyclosporiasis manifests itself so differently in people.”

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026

They were old cargo manifests, which sounded marginally more thrilling, from a time when the palace had been the royal residence and goods had come from every corner of the world.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor

It first manifested as a column in a youth publication before the host eventually took it to YouTube in 2014.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

Players are starting to mildly rebel: announcing they want fewer events, and more money at the events they do play, but it hasn’t manifested in any significant change.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

Business owner Lorenzo, who entered the villa on day one, said he felt like he "manifested" meeting Julia, 26, in Casa Amor, the alternate villa where relationships are tested by new arrivals.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 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

There was no predicting what they would be, and each manifested in its own time, in its own way.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor

On others, handwritten spells manifesting joy or health dance across the white surface.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026

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

For the day ahead, semiconductor company Marvell Technology’s earnings, set for release after market close, will be closely watched for insight into how AI exuberance is manifesting itself in company performance.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 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

A strong streak of romanticism runs through mathematics, manifesting itself most clearly in the most fundamental areas of mathematics, number theory and logic.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos

Related Words

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