mantra

[ man-truh, mahn-, muhn- ]

/ ˈmæn trə, ˈmɑn-, ˈmʌn- /

Hinduism. a word or formula, as from the Veda, chanted or sung as an incantation or prayer.

an often repeated word, formula, or phrase, often a truism: If I hear the “less is more” mantra one more time, I'll scream.

Origin of mantra

Borrowed into English from Sanskrit around 1800–10

man·tric, adjective

He sings and beats his small drum, or mutters his mantram (consecrated formula).

Castes and Tribes of Southern India |Edgar Thurston
The mantram should be repeated eight hundred times for seven nights.

Omens and Superstitions of Southern India |Edgar Thurston
Or ashes are thrown over a sick person, and rubbed over the forehead and breast, while a mantram is repeated.

Castes and Tribes of Southern India |Edgar Thurston
If ashes are smeared on the face, and the mantram is uttered sixteen times, it will be very effective.

Omens and Superstitions of Southern India |Edgar Thurston

A mantram was recited, with the result that the burning ceased, and the fever abated.

Omens and Superstitions of Southern India |Edgar Thurston

mantra

/ (ˈmæntrə, ˈmʌn-) /

Hinduism any of those parts of the Vedic literature which consist of the metrical psalms of praise

Hinduism Buddhism any sacred word or syllable used as an object of concentration and embodying some aspect of spiritual power

C19: from Sanskrit, literally: speech, instrument of thought, from man to think