manta

¹

[man-tuh, mahn-tah]

noun

plural

mantas 

1. (in Spain and Spanish America) a cloak or wrap.

2. a type of blanket or cloth used on a horse or mule.

3. Military.,  a movable shelter formerly used to protect besiegers, as when attacking a fortress.

4. Also called manta ray. Also called devilfish. Also called devil ray. Ichthyology.,  any of several tropical rays of the small family Mobulidae, especially of the genus Manta, measuring from 2 to 24 feet (0.6 to 7.3 meters) across, including the pectoral fins.

Manta

²

[mahn-tah, -tuh]

noun

1. a seaport in W Ecuador, on Manta Bay.

manta

/ ˈmæntə, ˈmanta /

noun

1. Also called: manta ray.  devilfish.  devil ray. any large ray (fish) of the family Mobulidae, having very wide winglike pectoral fins and feeding on plankton

2. a rough cotton cloth made in Spain and Spanish America

3. a piece of this used as a blanket or shawl

4. another word for mantelet

Word History and Origins

Origin of manta¹

First recorded in 1690–1700; from Spanish, from Provençal: literally, “blanket”; mantle

Word History and Origins

Origin of manta¹

Spanish: cloak, from Vulgar Latin; see _mantle. The manta ray is so called because it is caught in a trap resembling a blanket

Example Sentences

Perhaps the manta ray-looking underwater vessel was being tested in their backyard?

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Not a stingray, not a manta ray, but an electric ray.

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A team of researchers has beaten its own record for the fastest swimming soft robot, drawing inspiration from manta rays to improve their ability to control the robot's movement in the water.

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"We want to expand the design space of traditional cross-flow filtration with new knowledge from the manta ray," says lead author and MIT postdoc Xinyu Mao PhD '24.

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Coral reefs that some marine biologists call the Amazon of the ocean lie just offshore, home to giant clams, nurturing small fish, which in turn are prey for manta rays.

Read more on Seattle Times

Related Words

• cloth 
• scarf 
• stole