manna
/ˈmænə/
manna noun: food miraculously produced for the Israelites in the desert in the book of Exodus.
Noun
manna (countable and uncountable, plural mannas)
- Food miraculously produced for the Israelites in the desert in the book of Exodus.
- And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground. And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the...1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 16:14-15
- In the juriſdiction of Huquang there are ſeveral places where they gather up great store of Manna, which the Natives take for a Frozen Dew.1669, John Nievhoff, translated by John Ogilby, An Embassy from the Eaſt-India Company of the United Provinces, to the Grand Tartar Cham Emperour of China, London: John Macock, →OCLC, page 242
- Any boon which comes into one's hands by good luck.
- Fair ladies, you drop manna in the way / Of starved people.c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- The introduction of technical progress in this model can be made in a very simple manner if we assume that it is of the ‘disembodied’ type, that is, something like manna that falls from heaven on all capital goods, old and new. [emphasis in original]2010, Giancarlo Gandolfo, Economic Dynamics, 4th edition, Springer, page 197f
- The sugary sap of the manna gum tree which oozes out from holes drilled by insects and falls to the ground around the tree.
- The icing on the cake was made from manna, which was gathered under the manna gums. Manna mixed with milk made a splendid icing.1966, Bill Beatty, Tales of Old Australia, National Distributors, →ISBN, page 14, discussing old Australian foods
Proper noun (1) capitalized: Manna
Manna (plural Mannas)
- A surname from Italian.
Proper noun (2) capitalized: Manna
Manna (plural Mannas)
- A surname from Bengali.
manna meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada
manna in Hindi
- food
- मन्ना mannā
manna in Tamil
- தேவாமிர்தம், திருவமுது, எதிர்பாராத உதவி, பலன், திடீர் வரம், கொடை
manna in Malayalam
- manna
- മന്ന manna
manna in Kannada
- ದಿವ್ಯಾನ್ನ, ಅಮೃತ, ದಿವ್ಯಾಹಾರ
More languagesFewer languages
- manna in Tagalog
- mana
- manna in Arabic
- مَنّ mann
- manna in Indonesian
- mana
- manna in Persian
- گزانگبین gazangebin
- manna in Thai
- มานา
Forms of manna
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | mannas |
| alternative form | archaic |
| alternative form | mana |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Mannas |
Origin of manna
From Middle English, from Old English, from Late Latin manna, from Ancient Greek μάννα (mánna), from Hebrew מן (mān, “'manna”).
Borrowed from Italian Manna. Possible etymologies include the feminine form of Manno, or a nickname or metonym based on manna (sense 1).
Borrowed from Bengali মান্না (Manna), a name used by the Mahishya agrarian caste.
Words formed from manna
- Australian manna
- manna ash
- manna croup
- manna from heaven
- manna grass
- mannagrass
- manna gum
- mannalike
- manna mealybug
- manna scale
- manniferous
- mannitate
- mannitol
- mannose
- Persian manna
- tamarisk manna scale
Phrases with manna
Words that rhyme with manna
Questions about manna
- What does manna mean?
- Manna means food miraculously produced for the Israelites in the desert in the book of Exodus.
- What is manna in Hindi?
- Manna in Hindi is मन्ना (mannā). See Manna meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is manna?
- Manna can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce manna?
- Manna is pronounced /ˈmænə/.
- What is the plural of manna?
- The plural of manna is mannas.
Words near manna in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: manna (page history and authors); Manna (page history and authors); manna (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); മന്ന (Malayalam) (page history and authors); manna (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-manna.ogg.
Cite this entry: “manna.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/manna. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.