E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Manna (Exodus xvi. 15),
popularly said to be a corrupt form of man-hu (What is this?) The marginal reading gives—“When the children of Israel saw it [the small round thing like hoarfrost on the ground], they said to one another, What is this? for they wist not what it was.”
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“And the house of Israel called the name thereof manna. It was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.” (Verse 31.)
