Manichees

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Adherents of a dualistic religion founded by the Persian prophet Mani in the third century, who believed in a cosmic struggle between light and darkness
2. People who followed Manichaeism, the third-century faith that taught the world was a battleground between spiritual good and material evil
3. Members of a syncretic religious movement founded by Mani, which held that light and darkness were two opposing eternal principles

Etymology: The plural "manichees" is the form of "Manichee," a follower of Mani, the third-century Persian prophet who founded Manichaeism. The name passed into English through Middle English forms such as "Manichēs" and "Manychēis," which were drawn from post-Classical Latin "Manichaeī," the plural of "Manichaeus." That Latin word came from the Medieval Greek "Manikhaîos," meaning "Manichaean." The English word is used almost exclusively in its plural form, a survival from the period when it was a plurale tantum, a noun that existed only in the plural. Speakers used it to refer to the followers of the religion collectively, and the singular "Manichee" developed later as a back-formation from that plural usage.

Synonyms: Manichaeans