mana

Noun

mana (usually uncountable, plural manas)

1. Power, prestige; specifically, a form of supernatural energy in Polynesian religion that inheres in things or people. [from 19th c.]
   • 1862 January 25, Thomas H. Smith, chapter 4, in Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives of New Zealand, Wellington: House of Representatives, →OCLC, pages 10 and 12:

     They further required that a certain number of the old Chiefs should be liberally pensioned by the Government, and placed upon a footing of equality with European gentlemen of independent means, in consideration of their resigning their "mana" as Chiefs in favor of the new system […] .

   • 1920, Edward Carpenter, Pagan and Christian Creeds, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., page 61:

     The human tribe partakes of the mana or life-force of the animal, and is strengthened[].

   • 1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, OCLC 71368859; republished London: Folio Society, 2012, OCLC 805007047, page 193:

     But in popular estimation their essential virtue derived from the personal mana of the sovereign.

   • 1999, Pat Hohepa, “My Musket, My Missionary and My Mana”, in Alex Calder, Jonathan Lamb, Bridget Orr, editors, Voyages and Beaches, Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, →ISBN, page 197:

     It can be seen, therefore, that mana is a nonvisible changing measure; it can remain static, increase, or decrease, depending on the actions or inaction of the recipient, and it can be enhanced or diminished.

   • 2001 September, Aldo Matteucci, “Language and Diplomacy – A Practitioner's View”, in Jovan Kurbalija, Hannah Slavik, editors, Language and Diplomacy, Malta: DiploProjects, Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies, University of Malta, →ISBN, page 61:

     Among the Maori sovereignty was the result of mana—power based on hereditary rank and personal achievement. Manas could coexist and overlap, as they did in the medieval times in Europe.

   • 2012, Harold Hill, “Te Ope Whakaora, the Army that Brings Life”, in Hugh [Douglas] Morrison, Lachy Paterson, Brett Knowles, Murray Rae, editors, Mana Māori and Christianity, Wellington: Huia Publishers, →ISBN:

     On a number of occasions in recent years apologies have been offered to Māori because of past offences to their mana and invasions of their rights as tangata whenua.

2. (fantasy roleplaying games) Magical power.
   • 2003 May 20, “Bear”, “Makes Lovely Julienne Ogres …”, in rec.games.roguelike.angband‎ (Usenet), message-ID <3EC9C629.4DF117C@sonic.net>:

     […] Teleporting from an open room where there were a dozen black orcs firing bows […] landed me, low on mana and hitpoints, in a room full of gnome mages who instantly summoned four umber hulks and a xorn!

   • 2010, Ernest Adams, “Artifical Life and Puzzle Games”, in Fundamentals of Game Design, 2nd edition, Berkeley, Calif.: New Riders, →ISBN, page 580:

     Mana often grows in exponential proportion to population size, so as the population increases the player acquires vastly greater powers—a progression that god games share with spellcaster characters in role-playing games.

Noun

mana (plural manas)

1. Alternative form of mina (“ancient unit of weight or currency”).

Noun

mana (uncountable)

1. Alternative spelling of manna.

Derived terms

Declension

Noun

mana

1. death, Death (personification of death)

Further reading

• “1. mana”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-01

Noun

mana

1. mana

Further reading

• “2. mana”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-01

Verb

mana (weak verb, third-person singular past indicative manaði, supine manað)

1. to dare (someone to do something)

Noun

mana n (genitive singular mana, no plural)

1. (gaming, role playing) mana

Pronoun

mana

1. where, which

Adverb

mana

1. where, which
2. (colloquial, in some contexts only) not, doesn't (negates meaning of verb)

Noun

mana (plural mana-mana)

1. mana: A form of supernatural energy in Polynesian religion that inheres in things or people

Noun

mana (plural mana-mana)

1. (biblical) manna: Food miraculously produced for the Israelites in the desert in the book of Exodus