manna
manna Lexical Profile
manna Game Scores & Validity
• noun
An unexpected, sudden, and much-needed benefit, source of help, or windfall, especially one that arrives at a critical moment.
"The emergency grant was manna from heaven for the struggling community theater."
In biblical and Quranic accounts, the edible substance miraculously provided by God as sustenance for the Israelites during their forty years of wandering in the wilderness.
"According to the Book of Exodus, the Israelites gathered fresh manna from the ground each morning except on the Sabbath."
A sweetish, dried exudate obtained from the bark of the manna ash (Fraxinus ornus) and certain other plants, historically used as a mild laxative and sweetener.
"Harvesters in Sicily make incisions in the bark of the flowering ash during summer to collect the hardened manna."
Word Nuance & Usage
Do not confuse 'manna' (miraculous sustenance or an unexpected windfall) with the homophone 'manner' (a way of doing something or polite behavior) or 'manor' (a large country estate).
• Rhymes for manna
Word Origin & Etymology
From Old English 'manna', via Late Latin and Ancient Greek from Biblical Hebrew 'mān', traditionally explained in Exodus as deriving from the phrase 'mān hū' ('What is it?'), the question asked by the Israelites upon first seeing the substance.