Manichaism

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. A dualistic religious system founded by the prophet Mani in third-century Persia, teaching a cosmic struggle between light and darkness
2. The belief system of the Persian prophet Mani, which holds that good spirit and evil matter are locked in eternal conflict
3. A third-century religion founded in Persia by Mani that sees the universe as a battle between spiritual light and material darkness

Etymology: Manichaeism takes its name from Mani, the third-century Persian prophet who founded the religion. Born in Mesopotamia around 216 CE, Mani taught a dualist faith in which a realm of light and a realm of darkness are locked in cosmic struggle, and human souls are particles of light trapped in matter. His followers, spread along the Silk Road and as far as North Africa, were known in Greek as Manichaeans, and the "-ism" suffix turned their founder's name into the label for the whole system of belief. The Greek form Manikhaïsmós, which the English word passed through Latin to reach us, follows the same pattern: a name from the Aramaic-influenced "Mani" with a suffix meaning doctrine or adherence. The word therefore names a religion by its founder rather than by a place or a people, as with Christianity or Buddhism.