• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 17:25
CEST 23:25
KST 06:25
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
Serral wins HomeStory Cup 2914Serral wins Maestros of the Game 243ByuL, and the Limitations of Standard Play3Team Liquid Map Contest #22: Results and Winners7Code S Season 2 (2026): RO4 and Finals Preview12
Community News
Neeb returns to progaming; rejoins ONSYDE3Weekly Cups (July 20-26): Early returns on 5.0.16b4IntoTheTV X SOOP SC2 League : Weekly & Monthly4Clem: "I don't have that much hope in Blizzard"7ZeroSpace Early Access is Now Live!40
StarCraft 2
General
Weekly Cups (July 20-26): Early returns on 5.0.16b Neeb returns to progaming; rejoins ONSYDE Terran or Protoss 3kb/s downloading patch..... are we back to 1998? Daily SC2 Player Grid - feedback wanted
Tourneys
RSL Revival: Season 6 - Qualifiers and Main Event Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament PIG STY FESTIVAL 8.0! (13 - 23 August) IntoTheTV X SOOP SC2 League : Weekly & Monthly INu's Battles#18 - Cure, herO, Rogue & ByuN
Strategy
[G] Having the right mentality to improve
Custom Maps
[M] (2) Industrial Park New Map Maker - Looking for Advice - Love or Hate
External Content
Mutation # 536 Railroad Switch The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 535 Assembly of Vengeance Mutation # 534 Burning Evacuation
Brood War
General
screpdb: new Starcraft reporting tool BW General Discussion ASL22 General Discussion ASL 22 Proposed Map Pool Klaucher discontinued / in-game color settings
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues 2v2v2v2 Tournament Star Con San Diego 2026 Escore Tournament - Season 3
Strategy
Odyssey Mineral Stack Saturation Fighting Spirit mining rates Simple Questions, Simple Answers PvT advise for noobs
Other Games
General Games
ZeroSpace Early Access is Now Live! Path of Exile Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread General RTS Discussion Thread Nintendo Switch Thread
Dota 2
Looking for a Dota Mentor Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
TSM pausing esports and CLG Dead
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Power Rank TL Mafia Community Thread NeO.D_StephenKing vs This Guy From 1 Million Dance
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Artificial Intelligence Thread European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread How to buy a book - shipping from Korea to Europe
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club The HerO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! Anime Discussion Thread Series you have seen recently... [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread 2026-27 Football Thread placeholder TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 Formula 1 Discussion MLB/Baseball 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread Simple Questions Simple Answers FPS when play League Of Legend on laptop
TL Community
Northern Ireland Global Starcraft The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Games, Hormones, and "Dark" …
TrAiDoS
Hello guys!
LIN1s
ASL S22 English Commentary…
namkraft
Poker (part 2)
Nebuchad
An Exploration of th…
waywardstrategy
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 5668 users

[H] The Word "Mana"

Blogs > gods_basement
Post a Reply
gods_basement
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States305 Posts
October 06 2011 22:01 GMT
#1
In the sense of Magic Points, or other measures of "how many skills can you cast," when was this word first used? It seems that a lot of people refer to this as "mana," but the only historical reference is in the Bible.

this is kind of just a question answer thing because i'm curious.

(TT~TT)
Torte de Lini
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
Germany38463 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-10-06 22:03:49
October 06 2011 22:02 GMT
#2
University course; Introduction to Anthropology: "In anthropological discourse, mana as a generalized concept is often understood as a precursor to formal religion. It has commonly been interpreted as "the stuff of which magic is formed," as well as the substance of which souls are made."

Chapter like 4.

Expecting SirJolt to weigh in.

edit: "Mana is an indigenous Pacific islander concept of an impersonal force or quality that resides in people, animals, and (debatably) inanimate objects. The word is a cognate in many Oceanic languages, including Melanesian, Polynesian, and Micronesian."
https://twitter.com/#!/TorteDeLini (@TorteDeLini)
Kipsate
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Netherlands45349 Posts
October 06 2011 22:04 GMT
#3
Here I thought this was going to be about (P)MaNa.
WriterXiao8~~
SolHeiM
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Sweden1264 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-10-06 22:05:19
October 06 2011 22:05 GMT
#4
I found the exact same answer that Torte de Lini did by typing "mana" into Google, and there's no way I can say this without sounding like a dick, but people like you annoy me.

Fucking Google it you fucking....
josemb40
Profile Blog Joined March 2009
Peru611 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-10-06 22:35:00
October 06 2011 22:34 GMT
#5
Mana was the bread that felt from the sky, in the bible


Edit: its also a cool mexican band =]
wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
SirJolt
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
the Dagon Knight4014 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-10-06 22:53:05
October 06 2011 22:52 GMT
#6
On October 07 2011 07:02 Torte de Lini wrote:
University course; Introduction to Anthropology: "In anthropological discourse, mana as a generalized concept is often understood as a precursor to formal religion. It has commonly been interpreted as "the stuff of which magic is formed," as well as the substance of which souls are made."

Chapter like 4.

Expecting SirJolt to weigh in.

edit: "Mana is an indigenous Pacific islander concept of an impersonal force or quality that resides in people, animals, and (debatably) inanimate objects. The word is a cognate in many Oceanic languages, including Melanesian, Polynesian, and Micronesian."


The first place I encountered the general concept (in anthropology) was in Malinowski's Argonauts of the Western Pacific, which is just an amazing ethnography (in many ways, the first modern ethnography) about life in Papua New Guinea. Thoroughly recommended

Similar concepts come up in other anthropological works too, though under different names. Evans Pritchard's Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic Among the Azande is written from Africa, but has some really wonderful writing about the "witchcraft substance" that naturally occurs in the body of the witch or oracle, lending them power and somehow allowing them to send their spirits out of their bodies to work evil.

Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic is probably my number one "you should read this just to see how wonderful human beings are" book
Moderator@SirJolt
OmniEulogy
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Canada6600 Posts
October 06 2011 22:54 GMT
#7
On October 07 2011 07:05 SolHeiM wrote:
I found the exact same answer that Torte de Lini did by typing "mana" into Google, and there's no way I can say this without sounding like a dick, but people like you annoy me.

Fucking Google it you fucking....


He's asking when it was first used as a word, not what it means. Sadly I have no clue with a specific year / time. my best guess is more than 2000 years ago though lol
LiquidDota Staff
Hnnngg
Profile Joined June 2011
United States1101 Posts
October 06 2011 22:55 GMT
#8
On October 07 2011 07:34 josemb40 wrote:
Mana was the bread that felt from the sky, in the bible


Edit: its also a cool mexican band =]


That's manna.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manna
SirJolt
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
the Dagon Knight4014 Posts
October 06 2011 22:58 GMT
#9
On October 07 2011 07:54 OmniEulogy wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 07 2011 07:05 SolHeiM wrote:
I found the exact same answer that Torte de Lini did by typing "mana" into Google, and there's no way I can say this without sounding like a dick, but people like you annoy me.

Fucking Google it you fucking....


He's asking when it was first used as a word, not what it means. Sadly I have no clue with a specific year / time. my best guess is more than 2000 years ago though lol


If he just wants to know the origin, it is a Maori word for a supernatural power which can be transmitted or inherited (as in above examples).

From some quick research, it's first recorded use as an imported word was in 1843.
Moderator@SirJolt
Torenhire
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
United States11681 Posts
October 06 2011 22:59 GMT
#10
I honestly expected to come in here and see a thread about how to pronounce "Mana"

Mon-na? Man-na?

SirJolt: Well maybe if you weren't so big and stupid, it wouldn't have hit you.
Torte de Lini
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
Germany38463 Posts
October 06 2011 23:16 GMT
#11
Man-A
https://twitter.com/#!/TorteDeLini (@TorteDeLini)
pyaar
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States423 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-10-06 23:17:50
October 06 2011 23:16 GMT
#12
On October 07 2011 07:01 gods_basement wrote:
In the sense of Magic Points, or other measures of "how many skills can you cast," when was this word first used? It seems that a lot of people refer to this as "mana," but the only historical reference is in the Bible.

this is kind of just a question answer thing because i'm curious.


I'm pretty sure mana is distinct from manna. Manna is the stuff from the old testament and mana is a concept from an indigenous religion somewhere.

edit: this:

edit: "Mana is an indigenous Pacific islander concept of an impersonal force or quality that resides in people, animals, and (debatably) inanimate objects. The word is a cognate in many Oceanic Last edit: 2011-10-07 07:03:49
languages, including Melanesian, Polynesian, and Micronesian."
Mr. Wiggles
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
Canada5894 Posts
October 06 2011 23:47 GMT
#13
Hmmm, it would actually be interesting to see when this word was first used in video games, or maybe just fantasy as an entire genre. What was the first game/game system or book that used mana in the modern gaming sense?
you gotta dance
kidcrash
Profile Joined September 2009
United States623 Posts
October 07 2011 02:10 GMT
#14
First video game to use the term mana:

Dungeon Master for the Atari ST (1987)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeon_Master_(video_game)



gods_basement
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States305 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-10-08 22:22:40
October 08 2011 21:56 GMT
#15
Thanks. I just was just watching my friend play Call of Duty, and he was out of ammo. I said aloud, "You're out of mana." This was very interesting to me, because essentially they are the same thing, just portrayed in a different form. I wanted to know why this concept was so pervasive among games.

Edit: Sorry for confusing mana and manna.
(TT~TT)
Kingsp4de20
Profile Blog Joined February 2007
United States716 Posts
October 09 2011 01:51 GMT
#16
On October 07 2011 07:05 SolHeiM wrote:
I found the exact same answer that Torte de Lini did by typing "mana" into Google, and there's no way I can say this without sounding like a dick, but people like you annoy me.

Fucking Google it you fucking....


seriously between youtube and google you can learn anything!
Starparty
Profile Blog Joined December 2004
Sweden1963 Posts
October 09 2011 09:14 GMT
#17
On October 07 2011 08:16 Torte de Lini wrote:
Man-A


maa-na
The artist formerly known as Starparty
mizU
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States12125 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-10-09 09:35:26
October 09 2011 09:35 GMT
#18
It was first used in 1751 in pre-Colonial Polynesia. Obviously, this is the point in time where power sources were being sought, instead of just wood for fire, and human labor for physically demanding tasks. The shamans or priests began to realize that after enough rest, they had the power of pyrokinesis. They would rub their hands furiously together while under trance then produce small sparks. After enough rest and practice, they eventually leveled up and cast fire balls, like Mario. Mario was their god. And the Mariana trenches was where the first underwater fire was found. Thus the word mana. Mario + Mariana = mana
if happy ever afters did exist <3 @watamizu_
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 2h 35m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
ProTech86
StarCraft: Brood War
Calm 2598
Larva 117
NaDa 30
Dota 2
syndereN459
Pyrionflax218
Counter-Strike
summit1g2312
fl0m1726
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King129
Other Games
tarik_tv3664
Grubby3593
Beastyqt791
shahzam485
ToD327
XaKoH 263
Liquid`Hasu246
UpATreeSC209
B2W.Neo163
C9.Mang0146
JuggernautJason122
Trikslyr36
Organizations
Other Games
BasetradeTV182
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
[ Show 17 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• musti20045 49
• Hupsaiya 36
• RyuSc2 23
• IndyKCrew
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• sooper7s
• intothetv
• Kozan
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• iopq 11
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
Dota 2
• masondota21009
League of Legends
• TFBlade964
Other Games
• imaqtpie1764
Upcoming Events
PiGosaur Cup
2h 35m
The PondCast
12h 35m
Kung Fu Cup
13h 35m
Patches Events
18h 35m
Replay Cast
1d 11h
CrankTV Team League
1d 13h
OSC
1d 15h
OSC
1d 20h
Replay Cast
2 days
Escore
2 days
[ Show More ]
CrankTV Team League
2 days
OSC
3 days
Replay Cast
3 days
Afreeca Starleague
3 days
RSL Revival
3 days
ByuN vs SHIN
Solar vs Lambo
WardiTV Summer Champion…
3 days
Afreeca Starleague
4 days
RSL Revival
4 days
Clem vs Serral
herO vs Rogue
WardiTV Summer Champion…
4 days
WardiTV Weekly
5 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-07-27
SCTL 2026 Spring
Eternal Conflict S2 Finale

Ongoing

CSL 2026 Summer (S21)
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 3
Proleague 2026-07-28
RSL Revival: Season 6
CranK Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S3: W5
ASL Season 22: Qualifier #1
ASL Season 22: Qualifier #2
Acropolis #5
Escore Tournament S3: W6
Escore Tournament S3: W7
Escore Tournament S3: W8
HSC XXX
SC4ALL II: StarCraft II
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
PiG Sty Festival 8.0
Light Tournament 2026
ESL Pro League Season 24
Stake Ranked Episode 4
Logitech G Connect 2026
SL StarSeries Fall 2026
FISSURE Playground #5
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.