MANNA

noun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English, from Late Latin, from Greek, from Hebrew mān Date: before 12th century 1. food miraculously supplied to the Israelites in their journey through the wilderness, divinely supplied spiritual nourishment, a usually sudden and unexpected source of gratification, pleasure, or gain, 2. the sweetish dried exudate of a Eurasian ash (especially Fraxinus ornus ) that contains mannitol and has been used as a laxative and demulcent, a similar product excreted by a scale insect ( Trabutina mannipara ) feeding on the tamarisk