manna

plural mannas · alternative archaic · alternative mana

1. countableuncountablebiblicalFood miraculously produced for the Israelites in the desert in the book of Exodus.

   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

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   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 bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 16:14-15

   The leaves of the foreſt were loaded with manna, pure amber dropped from every bough, honey diſtilled from the rifted rock, and the humming bee, drunk with joy, ſtrayed from flower to flower, forgetful of his burſting cells.

   1769, Firishta, translated by Alexander Dow, Tales translated from the Persian of Inatulla of Delhi, volume I, Dublin: P. and W. Wilson et al., page iv

2. broadlycountableuncountableAny 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] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]

   1 more example

   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

3. countableuncountableThe sugary sap of the manna gum tree which oozes out from holes drilled by insects and falls to the ground around the tree.

   1966, Bill Beatty, Tales of Old Australia, National Distributors, →ISBN, page 14, discussing old Australian foods The icing on the cake was made from manna, which was gathered under the manna gums. Manna mixed with milk made a splendid icing.

plural Mannas

1. A surname from Italian.

plural Mannas

1. A surname from Bengali.