Manichaeism - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Man·i·chae·ism Audio Help (mān'ĭ-kē'ĭz'əm) Pronunciation Key
n.

The syncretic, dualistic religious philosophy taught by the Persian prophet Manes, combining elements of Zoroastrian, Christian, and Gnostic thought and opposed by the imperial Roman government, Neo-Platonist philosophers, and orthodox Christians.
A dualistic philosophy dividing the world between good and evil principles or regarding matter as intrinsically evil and mind as intrinsically good.

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Manichaeism

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Manichaeism

1556, "the religion of the Manichees," (c.1380) a Gnostic Christian sect named for its founder, Mani (L. Manichæus), c.215-275, Syriac-speaking apostle from a Jesus cult in Mesopotamia in 240s, who taught a universal religion. Vegetarian and visionary, they saw "particles of light and goodness" trapped in evil matter and regarded Satan as co-eternal with God. The universe was a scene of struggle between good and evil. The sect was characterized by dualism and a double-standard of perfectionist "elects" and a larger group of fellow travelers who would require several reincarnations before their particles of light would be liberated.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

manichaeism
noun
a religion founded by Manes in the third century; a synthesis of Zoroastrian dualism between light and dark and Babylonian folklore and Buddhist ethics and superficial elements of Christianity; spread widely in the Roman Empire but had largely died out by 1000

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Manichaeism

Man"i*ch[ae]*ism\, Manicheism \Man"i*che*ism\, n. [Cf. F. manich['e]isme.] The doctrines taught, or system of principles maintained, by the Manich[ae]ans.

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