This article may lack focus or may be about more than one topic. In particular, is it a list article, or about manifestos, generally? If it is a definition, it should be transwikified to Wiktionary. (September 2023) |
A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, or government.[1][2][3][4] A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus, or promotes a new idea with prescriptive notions for carrying out changes the author believes should be made. It often is political, social or artistic in nature, sometimes revolutionary, but may present an individual's life stance. Manifestos relating to religious belief are generally referred to as creeds or confessions of faith.
The Italian word manifesto, itself derived from the Latin manifestum, means 'clear' or 'conspicuous'. Its first recorded use in English is from 1620, in Nathaniel Brent's translation of the Italian from Paolo Sarpi's History of the Council of Trent: "To this citation he made answer by a Manifesto" (p. 102). Similarly, "They were so farre surprised with his Manifesto, that they would never suffer it to be published" (p. 103).[5][full citation needed]