What does "manifest" mean?

1. (to show a quality) to show a feeling, quality, or symptom clearly. 2. (to appear) to appear or become easy to see. 3. (to will into existence) to try to make something happen by imagining it and believing it will come true. 4. (obvious) easy to see or understand; very clear. 5. (list of goods) a list of the people or goods being carried on a ship or plane. 6. (metadata file) a file that gives information about other files in a computer program.

manifest

v. · adj. · n.

US //ˈmænəˌfɛst// UK //mˈænɪfˌɛst// man·i·fest

1 to show a quality (v.)
C1 Advanced Formal

to show a feeling, quality, or symptom clearly.

to demonstrate or display a quality or feeling through one's actions or appearance. Transitive; requires a direct object.

Example

The virus may not manifest any symptoms for several days.

Example

The patient began to manifest signs of severe respiratory distress shortly after the procedure was completed.
- hide
- conceal
2 to appear (v.)
C1 Advanced Formal

to appear or become easy to see.

to become apparent or visible; often used when a problem or physical thing starts to exist.

Example

The problems in the building started to manifest as cracks in the walls.

Example

Social tensions often manifest in the form of protests when the government ignores the needs of the working class.
- appear
- emerge
- disappear
- vanish

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3 to will into existence (v.)
B2 Upper Intermediate Informal Slang

to try to make something happen by imagining it and believing it will come true.

to use visualization or positive thinking to bring a desired goal into reality. Transitive; common in New Age and social media contexts.

Example

She says she managed to manifest her dream job by writing it in her journal every day.

Example

The influencer claimed that anyone could manifest wealth if they simply changed their mindset and focused on abundance.
- actualize
- visualize
4 obvious (adj.)
C1 Advanced Formal

easy to see or understand; very clear.

clear or obvious to the eye or mind; not hidden or obscure.

Example

The anger on his face was manifest to everyone in the room.

Example

The failure of the current economic policy has become manifest even to its most ardent supporters.
- hidden
- obscure
5 list of goods (n.)
C1 Advanced Technical

a list of the people or goods being carried on a ship or plane.

a document listing the cargo, passengers, and crew of a ship, aircraft, or vehicle for the use of customs and other officials.

Example

The captain checked the cargo manifest before the ship left the port.

Example

Customs officials compared the physical contents of the shipping container against the digital manifest provided by the exporter.
6 metadata file (n.)
C2 Proficiency Technical Computing

a file that gives information about other files in a computer program.

a file containing metadata that describes a group of accompanying files as part of a set or software package.

Example

The application failed to load because the manifest file was missing.

Example

The developer updated the manifest to include the new library dependencies required for the version 2.0 release.

Origin

From Middle English manifest, manifeste, from Latin manifestus, manufestus (“palpable, manifest”), from manus (“hand”) + infestus, participle of infendō (“strike”) (from the root of dēfendō, offendō, etc.), or from Proto-Indo-European *dʰers-. Doublet of manifesto.