- manifest (adj.)
- late 14c., "clearly revealed," from L. manifestus "caught in the act, plainly apprehensible, clear, evident," from manus "hand" (see manual) + -festus "struck" (cf. second element of infest). The noun sense of "ship's cargo" is from 1706. The verb sense of "to show plainly" is late 14c., from L. manifestare.
"Other nations have tried to check ... the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the Continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions." [John O'Sullivan (1813-1895), "U.S. Magazine & Democratic Review," July 1845]
Related: Manifested; manifesting; manifestly.