mana en · NOUN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- /ˈmɑ.nə/ (General-American)
- /ˈmæ-/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- (New-Zealand) audio
- /ˈmana/ (New-Zealand)
- /ˈmæ-/ (General-American)
- /ˈmɑː.nə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- (US) audio
Etymology
Borrowed from Māori mana, ultimately from Proto-Polynesian *mana, from Proto-Oceanic *mana. The use of "mana" for "magical energy" in role-playing games originated from Larry Niven, when he wrote the short story, "Not Long Before the End", in 1969. It was later popularised by his The Magic Goes Away setting.
Meanings
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(uncountable, usually) Power, prestige; specifically, a form of supernatural energy in Polynesian religion that inheres in things or people.
But in popular estimation their essential virtue derived from the personal mana of the sovereign.
1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, OCLC 71368859; republished London: Folio Society, 2012, OCLC 805007047, page 193The human tribe partakes of the mana or life-force of the animal, and is strengthened […]
1920, Edward Carpenter, Pagan and Christian Creeds, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 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.
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: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 […]
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: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.
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: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.
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:
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(qualifier:fantasy roleplaying games, uncountable, usually) Magical energy.
Mana is the name we give to the power behind magic.
1969 April, Larry Niven, “Not Long Before the End”, in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction:However, all such magik requires the mages [sic] own "MANA" or "internal power" to make it work. Without the mana, a spoken spell is just so much gibberish.
1977, David Hargrave, “Magik, What It Is and What It Does” (chapter VII), in The Arduin Grimoire:[…] 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!
2003 May 20, "Bear", “Makes Lovely Julienne Ogres …”, in rec.games.roguelike.angband (Usenet), message-ID <3EC9C629.4DF117C@sonic.net>:The player starts with no mana crystals, and gets one on their first turn, meaning an 8-mana card cannot be played until turn 8.
2023 December 1, Evelynn Kersting, “Games and Time”, in University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, archived from the original on 07 Jun 2025, page 226, archived from the original on 06 Jun 2025: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.
2010, Ernest Adams, “Artifical Life and Puzzle Games”, in Fundamentals of Game Design, 2nd edition, Berkeley, Calif.: New Riders, →ISBN, page 580:Lands generate mana, which is required to cast spells.
1993, Richard Garfield, “Overview of Play”, in Magic: The Gathering: A Fantasy Trading Card Game [rulebook], Limited Edition Alpha edition, Wizards of the Coast, archived from the original on 08 Mar 2013, page 9:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| manas | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
mana flood · mana glut · manaism · mana shuffle · mana weave · mana screw · mana point
Translations (8)
es maná (Translations) · pl mana (Translations) · ja 魔力 (Translations) · ja マナ (Translations) · cmn 吗那 (Translations) · cmn 超自然力量 (Translations) · sv mana (Translations) · cmn 魔力 (Translations)
wikipedia: The Magic Goes Away · wikipedia: Larry Niven · wikipedia: Not Long Before the End