mantran.
/ˈmantrə/, U.S. /ˈmæntrə/ 1. Originally Hinduism. A sacred text or passage, esp. one from the Vedas used as a prayer or incantation; a word or phrase from a sacred text repeated in this way. Also: a holy name, for inward meditation.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > contemplation or meditation > [noun]
contemplation?c1225
meditation?c1225
recollection1576
meditating1609
recollectednessa1699
mantra1794
recueillement1845
transcendental meditation1966
TM1967
society > faith > aspects of faith > Bible, Scripture > non-Judaeo-Christian scriptures > [noun] > Hindu > Veda > text from
mantra1794
gayatri1843
1792 W. Jones et al. Diss. & Misc. Pieces Asia II. 110 To this head belong the numerous Tantra, Mantra, Agama, and Nigama, Sástra's, which consist of incantations and other texts of the Veda's.]
1794 W. Jones tr. Inst. Hindu Law iv. 101 By the rule just mentioned let him continually, with his faculties exerted, read the Mantras, or holy texts, composed in regular measures.
1795 Asiatick Researches 4 210 Utters the following Mantras.
1805 H. T. Colebrooke in Asiatick Researches 8 379 The Sanhitá of the first Véda contains mantras or prayers, which, for the most part, are encomiastick.
1811 W. Ward Acct. Hindoos II. 550 He makes two balls of boiled rice, and repeating a mûntrû, offers them to, or in the name of his father and mother.
1817 tr. J. A. Dubois Descr. Char., Manners & Customs People of India i. xi. 77 The pretended virtues of the Mantra or Mantram.
1883 M. Williams Relig. Thought & Life in India i. 8 These Mantras or hymns were arranged in three principal collections.
1900 W. E. Maxwell in W. W. Skeat Malay Magic v. 116 Numerous mantra, or charms..are in use among the Pawangs.
1931 G. B. Sansom Japan iii. xii. 222 Recitation of the formulae known as mantra.
1956 E. Wood Yoga Dict. 93 The scriptures contain many great mantras, of which the greatest is the word Om.
1958 J. Sykes Quakers i. i. 22 Some significant holy name, evoking as with a mantram its purifying grace.
1972 Village Voice (N.Y.) 1 June 76/3 The birds were placed in cardboard boxes..and rushed to a building where teams of hippies, chanting the Hare Krishna mantra, worked into the dawn of the next day to save their lives.
1992 Hindu (Delhi) 13 Sept. 11/4 (advt.) The vibrant inspiring resonance of Holy mantras from the sacred shrine..and the soul-stirring bhajans make the atmosphere sublime and sacred.
2. gen. A constantly or monotonously repeated phrase or sentence; a characteristic formula or refrain; a byword, slogan, or catchphrase.
ΚΠ
1971 Daily Tel. 19 Aug. 10/4 People who ever have dinner in English country hotels know the mantra, or holy formula: ‘Coffee will be served in the lounge.’
1976 Lancet 13 Nov. 1061/1 The chapter on ‘on-the-scene’ care..recommends that the mantra ‘bleeding, breathing, breathing, bleeding’ should be repeated by those on the way to a roadside accident.
1984 D. Williams in M. Evans Black Women Writers 447 This poem enacts a ritual quest for peace that is finally attained through the hypnotic mantras of the closing lines.
1991 N.Y. Woman Dec. 101/1 ‘The customer always comes first for us.’ That's a mantra other retailers are repeating.
2009 Guardian 17 Jan. 35/5 The mantra among dealers is that a good picture will always find a buyer.
Compounds
ˈmantraˌmaker n. rare a person who composes mantras.
ΚΠ
1956 E. Wood Yoga Dict. 93 If these [sounds] are arranged by some person competent in this matter, words..and sentences of power can be formed. Such a person was called a mantramaker (mantrakāra) in ancient India.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2000; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1794