n. 1. In the Bible, the food miraculously provided for the Israelites in the wilderness during their flight from Egypt. 2. Spiritual nourishment of divine origin. 3. Something of value that a person receives unexpectedly: viewed the bonus as manna from heaven. 4. A dried exudate of certain plants, especially the Eurasian ash tree Fraxinus ornus, formerly used as a laxative. 5. A sweet granular substance excreted on the leaves of plants by certain insects, especially scale insects and aphids, sometimes harvested for food. [Middle English, from Old English, from Late Latin, from Greek, from Aramaic mannā, from Hebrew mān; see mnn in the Appendix of Semitic roots.] |
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