mana

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Maori mana, ultimately from Proto-Polynesian *mana, from Proto-Oceanic *mana.

noun

1. Power, prestige; specifically, a form of supernatural energy in Polynesian religion that inheres in things or people.
   https://books.google.com/books?id=N0RRAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA8-PA10 page 10 I have the honor to report, for the information of the Government, the result of my visit to Maketu and the Lake District, and the preliminary arrangements made for introducing the new system of Government for the Natives. […] https://books.google.com/books?id=N0RRAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA8-PA12 page 12 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; […] 25 January 1862, Thomas H. Smith, “No. 4: Second Report from T. H. Smith, Esq., R.M.”, in Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives of New Zealand. From the Seventh Day of July to the Fifteenth Day of September, 1862 both Days Inclusive. In the Twenty-sixth Day of the Reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria. Being the Second Session of the Third Parliament of New Zealand, Wellington: Printed by W. C. Wilson for the House of Representatives, at the printing office, Shortland Crescent, Auckland, →OCLC, pages 10 and 12
   The 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
   But in popular estimation their essential virtue derived from the personal mana of the sovereign. 1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic: Studies in Popular Beliefs in 16th and 17th Century England, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, OCLC 71368859; republished London: Folio Society, 2012, OCLC 805007047, page 193
   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. […] One can speak of the mana of a warrior, the mana of a woman leader, the mana of a child prodigy. 1999, Pat Hohepa, “My Musket, My Missionary and My Mana”, in Alex Calder, Jonathan Lamb, Bridget Orr, editors, Voyages and Beaches: Pacific Encounters, 1769–1840, Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, page 197
   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, page 61
   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: The Salvation Army and Māori”, in Hugh [Douglas] Morrison, Lachy Paterson, Brett Knowles, Murray Rae, editors, Mana Māori and Christianity, Wellington: Huia Publishers
2. (fantasy roleplaying games) Magical power.
   […] 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! 20 May 2003, “Bear”, “Makes Lovely Julienne Ogres …”, in rec.games.roguelike.angband (Usenet), message-ID <3EC9C629.4DF117C@sonic.net>
   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, page 580

Etymology 2

noun

1. Alternative form of mina (“ancient unit of weight or currency”).

Etymology 3

noun

1. Alternative spelling of manna.