Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Hinduism A sacred verbal formula repeated in prayer, meditation, or incantation, such as an invocation of a god, a magic spell, or a syllable or portion of scripture containing mystical potentialities.
- noun A commonly repeated word or phrase, especially in advocacy or for motivation.
- noun A concept or fact that is mentioned repeatedly, especially in advocacy.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A Vedic hymn of praise and prayer; collectively, the matter of the Sanhita or first division of the Veda, as distinguished from the liturgical matter, called the brahmana.
- noun A sacred text used as a charm or incantation by Brahmans and Yogis.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun India A prayer; an invocation; a religious formula; a charm.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The hymn portions of the
Vedas ; any passage of these used as a prayer. - noun A phrase repeated to assist concentration during meditation, originally in
Hinduism . - noun A slogan or phrase often repeated.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a commonly repeated word or phrase
- noun (Sanskrit) literally a `sacred utterance' in Vedism; one of a collection of orally transmitted poetic hymns
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The word mantra is a Sanskrit word derived from “man” (mind) and “tra” (deliverance).
Itsy Bitsy Yoga Helen Garabedian 2004
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The word mantra is a Sanskrit word derived from “man” (mind) and “tra” (deliverance).
Itsy Bitsy Yoga Helen Garabedian 2004
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The "free-market" mantra is code for grab all you can, don't worry about the government getting in the way of throwing out the unions, preventing the spewing and dumping of pollution, cutting costs on safe products and a safe workplace, or preventing the most avaricious from gaining a monopoly and dictating prices.
Endorsing Ron Paul, and Why Progressive Dems Should Support Ron Paul 2007
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The term mantra meant first, a thought; then thought expressed; then a Vedic hymn or text; next a spell or charm.
The Religions of Japan From the Dawn of History to the Era of Méiji William Elliot Griffis 1885
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Yes, there are times when he should talk but his mantra is the same as in the past.
Cheney: Investigating CIA interrogations a political move 2009
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I was going to ask one of you if I could borrow yours, but a mantra is a very personal thing and I'd probably return it to you in bad shape with crud on the phonemes.
Help! marshallpayne1 2009
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Your mantra is all religions lead to the same place.
Sound Politics: "Christmas trees are going back up at Sea-Tac airport." 2006
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Our forces are run by people who get to the top by towing the party line and signing up for whatever mantra is being spouted that week.
Free Michael Jackson mp3 downloads « POLICE INSPECTOR BLOG Inspector Gadget 2009
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My mantra is "it's easier to clean something that is clean than something that is dirty."
Use A Cleaning Schedule To Conquer Messes | Lifehacker Australia 2009
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October 1st, 2009 10: 13 pm ET its a shame that the stop snitching mantra is the status quo for children in chicago and the rest of th united states.
bilby commented on the word mantra
Art, name no tub time. Emit but one mantra.
November 23, 2009