manta

noun

man·​ta ˈman-tə How to pronounce manta (audio)
1
: a square piece of cloth or blanket used in southwestern U.S. and Latin America usually as a cloak or shawl
2
[American Spanish, from Spanish; from its shape] : manta ray

Examples of manta in a Sentence

a manta glided along the sea bottom
Recent Examples on the Web Behind them were women in brown vicuña mantas and bowlers. Aatish Taseer, New York Times, 9 Nov. 2023 Rogen and John Cena play the duo of warthog Bebop and rhino Rocksteady, Rose Byrne is toothy Australian gator Leatherhead, Post Malone cameos as silky-singing manta Ray Fillet and Paul Rudd is the scene-stealing Mondo Gecko. Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 31 July 2023 Just offshore, the warm waters near Espiritu Santo Island (a UNESCO World Heritage site) teem with playful sea lions, manta and mobula rays, giant squid, dolphins, and Baja’s most famous underwater resident: the whale shark. Krista Simmons, Sunset Magazine, 22 May 2023 The wrappers for the manta dumplings, whether beef or a combination of beef and pumpkin, are fragile things, prone to split open to reveal their jumbled interiors. Tim Carman, Washington Post, 3 Apr. 2023 In 1874, Nampeyo was a shy 15-year-old who sometimes wore a traditional manta, a type of shawl. Kathleen Sharp For Propublica, Anchorage Daily News, 26 Apr. 2023 Diver identifying a manta. Kristin Butler, Discover Magazine, 8 July 2017 Lopez attended the mass Sunday night in Our Lady of Guadalupe’s outfit: a red gown and a green manta, or cape, studded with yellow stars. Caroline Kubzansky, Chicago Tribune, 12 Dec. 2022 The manta are assembled in foil trays and baked until the middle is just cooked and still juicy, the tops are crisp around the edges and the bottoms resemble al dente pasta. Jenn Harriscolumnist, Los Angeles Times, 7 Nov. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'manta.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Spanish, alteration of manto cloak, from Late Latin mantus, probably back-formation from Latin mantellum mantle

First Known Use

1697, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of manta was in 1697

Dictionary Entries Near manta

Cite this Entry

“Manta.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/manta. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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