mana

Pronunciation

• UK: /ˈmɑː.nə/, /ˈmæ-/^[1]
• US: /ˈmɑ.nə/, /ˈmæ-/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Māori mana (“authority, prestige, power”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Proto-Polynesian *mana, from Proto-Oceanic *mana (“storm wind, power in natural phenomena”).^[4] It is cognate with Hawaiian mana (“supernatural or divine power”), Tongan mana, Samoan mana (“supernatural power”) and Fijian mana (“supernatural power”).^[4][2] Merriam-Webster calls it of Melanesian and Polynesian origin,^[7][8] and Collins and Dictionary.com simply Polynesian.^[9][10] Partridge suspected that it was related to a Sanskrit word for mind, brought to the Pacific by traders from India.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Power, authority or prestige, and the supernatural power of Polynesian belief: 1843, in Ernst Dieffenbach's Travels in New Zealand.^[2][3] Merriam-Webster dates it to about 1843 and Dictionary.com to 1835–45.^[7][10]

Semantic evolution

The OED records the general sense, power, authority or prestige, and the sense of anthropology, an impersonal supernatural power that can reside in people or objects and be passed on or inherited, under one sense from the first quotation (1843).^[2] Collins describes it as a life force believed to be seated in the head and linked with high social status and ritual power, and, more widely, any power gained by ritual means.^[9] In New Zealand English the general sense of authority, influence and prestige is the usual one,^[12][6] and the phrase mana motuhake means independence or autonomy.^[12]

Timeline

• 1843 – power, authority; supernatural power in Polynesian belief.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. In Polynesian and Melanesian belief, an impersonal supernatural power that can dwell in people or objects and can be inherited, acquired or passed on.^[7][9][4][2]
2. Power, authority or prestige, especially in New Zealand: The election win added to the leader's mana.^{[7][12][6][4]}

Usage notes

Merriam-Webster lists two rare words of the same spelling with their own origins: mana, Chinese characters as used in Japanese writing, from Japanese, and mana, a variant of mina, the ancient unit of weight, from Hebrew.^[7][8]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
9. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
11. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
12. ^ a b c Deverson, Tony; Kennedy, Graeme, eds. (2005), The New Zealand Oxford Dictionary, Auckland: Oxford University Press