Manger

A manger or trough is a rack for fodder, or a structure or feeder used to hold food for animals. The word comes from the Old French mangier (meaning "to eat"), from Latin mandere (meaning "to chew").[1]

For other uses, see Manger (disambiguation).

Modern livestock trough near Empire Ranch, Arizona.

Mangers are mostly used in livestock raising[2] and generally found at stables and farmhouses. They are also used to feed wild animals, e.g., in nature reserves.

A similar trough providing drinking water for domestic or non-domestic animals is a watering trough and may be part of a larger watering structure called abreuvoir.

Christian symbol

A manger is also a Christian symbol, associated with nativity scenes where Mary and Joseph, forced by necessity to stay in a room for animals instead of a guest room, used a manger as a makeshift crib for the Baby Jesus.[3] (Greek: φατνη phatnē; Luke 2:7).

Gallery

• 
  18th century limestone mangers at The Devil's Farmhouse in Mellieha, Malta.
• 
  Donkey eating apples from a steel trough
• 
  Nativity at Night by Geertgen tot Sint Jans, c. 1490, after a composition by Hugo van der Goes of c. 1470. Sources of light are the infant Jesus, the shepherds' fire on the hill behind, and the angel who appears to them.

See also

• Away in a Manger, a Christmas carol
• The Dog in the Manger, a metaphor

References

1. Harper, Douglas. "manger". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
2. Mahoney, Leonardo (1996). 5,000 years of Architecture in Malta. Malta: Valletta Publishing. Format. p. 123-124. ISBN 9990958157. ISBN 9789990958157
3. William, Francis Dawson (1902). Christmas: Its Origin and Associations. E. Stock. Retrieved 2014-12-25.

External links

• Media related to Feeding troughs at Wikimedia Commons
• The dictionary definition of manger at Wiktionary