the system of religious doctrines, including elements of Gnosticism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, Buddhism, etc, taught by the Persian prophet Mani about the 3rd century ad. It was based on a supposed primordial conflict between light and darkness, or goodness and evil
2. mainly Roman Catholic Church
any similar heretical philosophy involving a radical dualism
Derived forms
Manichee (ˈManichee)
noun
Word origin
C14: from Late Latin Manichaeus, from Late Greek Manikhaios of Mani
Manichaeism in American English
(ˈmænɪˌkiˌɪzəm) or ˈManiˌcheˌism (ˈmænɪˌkiˌɪzəm)
noun
a dualistic religion that combined Zoroastrian, Christian, Gnostic, and other beliefs in a theology of cosmic struggle between Good (light, God, spirit) and Evil (darkness, Satan, matter): it was founded by Mani (L. name Manichaeus) in Persia in the 3d cent. a.d.