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• manta
  manta

  noun

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

  noun

  a seaport in W Ecuador, on Manta Bay.

manta

¹ American  

[man-tuh, mahn-tah] / ˈmæn tə, ˈmɑn tɑ /

noun

• mantas
  plural

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.

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Manta ² American  

[mahn-tah, -tuh] / ˈmɑn tɑ, -tə /

noun

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

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manta British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• mantas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of manta

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

manta Manta mantas

The JetZero aircraft looks more like a manta ray than the tube-with-wings blueprint that has been the default for over 70 years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

The Gulf of Mexico is home to at least 19 other threatened and endangered species including various types of turtles, the giant manta ray and mountainous star coral.

From BBC ● Mar. 31, 2026

Similar actions have been documented in manta rays and dolphins, which release bubbles and observe them rising in a mirror.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 23, 2026

Friday's decisions move whale sharks, manta rays and devil rays onto Appendix I after countries on Thursday did the same for the critically endangered oceanic whitetip shark.

From Barron's ● Nov. 28, 2025

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

From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown

Fishermen carry fish from their boats to Playita Mia in Manta, which was the home port of two ships that sank in March.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026

He is not the only survivor suffering trauma related to the very ocean that has long defined life in Manta and environs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026

Air Force personnel to the Ecuadorean military base at Manta in December for a short-term mission to support antidrug operations.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 4, 2026

Roberto Salazar, president of the International Port of Manta, is hopeful the United States can help.

From Barron's ● Nov. 12, 2025

He conquered the Huancavelicas although they were very warlike, fighting on land and at sea in balsas, from Tumbez to Huañapi, Huamo, Manta, Turuca and Quisin.

From History of the Incas by Sir Clements R. (Clements Robert) Markham

I’ve tracked forest elephants in Gabon, been swimming with giant mantas in the Maldives and walked through extraordinary landscapes high in the Andes.

From The Guardian ● Oct. 26, 2019

Coral and colorful, small fish are almost always around, but mantas, hammerhead sharks and turtles are in shorter supply.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 3, 2016

Because manta-ray gills have become a popular cure for impotency in Chinese medicine, fishermen have now turned to hunting mantas.

From New York Times ● Sep. 7, 2012

There were mantas twice your size on the Ras.”

From The New Yorker ● Jul. 26, 2010

The women who were already in mourning for my uncle Lucas took this opportunity to place their mantas over their faces and to scurry to their homes before the hellish storm raised its head again.

From "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya

Related Words

• cloth
• scarf
• stole