Manasikāra

Manasikara is a Buddhist term that is translated as "attention" or "mental advertence". It is defined as the process of the mind fixating upon an object. Manasikara is identified within the Buddhist Abhidharma teachings as follows:

One of the seven universal mental factors in the Theravada Abhidharma.
One of the five universal mental factors in the Mahayana Abhidharma

Definitions

Theravada

Bhikkhu Bodhi states:
The Atthasālinī and the Visuddhimagga define manasikāra as follows:

Mahayana

The Abhidharma-samuccaya states:
Herbert Guenther states:
The difference between cetanā and manasikara is that cetanā brings the mind towards the object in a general move, while manasikara makes the mind fixate upon this particular objective reference.