'Maya' definitions:
Definition of 'Maya'
(from WordNet)
noun
A member of an American Indian people of Yucatan and Belize and Guatemala who had a culture (which reached its peak between AD 300 and 900) characterized by outstanding architecture and pottery and astronomy; "Mayans had a system of writing and an accurate calendar" [syn: Mayan, Maya]
noun
A family of American Indian languages spoken by Maya [syn: Maya, Mayan, Mayan language]
Definition of 'Maya'
From: GCIDE
- Maya \Ma"ya\ (m[aum]"y[aum]), n.
- 1. (Hindu Philos.) The name (in Vedantic philosphy) for the doctrine of the unreality of matter, called, in English, idealism; hence, nothingness; vanity; illusion. [1913 Webster]
- 2. (Hindu Philos.) the Hindu goddess personifying the power that creates phenomena. --[RHUD] [PJC]
- 3. (Hindu Philos.) the power to produce illusions. --[RHUD] [PJC]
Definition of 'Maya'
From: GCIDE
- Maya \Ma"ya\ (m[aum]"y[.a]), prop. n.; pl. Maya or Mayas.
- 1. the Indian people occupying the area of Veracruz, Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, and Yucatan, together with a part of Guatemala and a part of Salvador. The Maya peoples are dark, short, and brachycephalic, and at the time of the discovery had attained a higher grade of culture than any other American people. They cultivated a variety of crops, were expert in the manufacture and dyeing of cotton fabrics, used cacao as a medium of exchange, and were workers of gold, silver, and copper. Their architecture comprised elaborately carved temples and palaces, and they possessed a superior calendar, and a developed system of hieroglyphic writing, with records said to go back to about 700 a. d. [Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC]
- 2. the language of the Mayas. [Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC]
Definition of 'Maya'
From: GCIDE
- Maya \Ma"ya\ (m[aum]"y[.a]), prop. n.; pl. Maya or Mayas.
- 1. the Indian people occupying the area of Veracruz, Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, and Yucatan, together with a part of Guatemala and a part of Salvador. The Maya peoples are dark, short, and brachycephalic, and at the time of the discovery had attained a higher grade of culture than any other American people. They cultivated a variety of crops, were expert in the manufacture and dyeing of cotton fabrics, used cacao as a medium of exchange, and were workers of gold, silver, and copper. Their architecture comprised elaborately carved temples and palaces, and they possessed a superior calendar, and a developed system of hieroglyphic writing, with records said to go back to about 700 a. d. [Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC]
- 2. the language of the Mayas. [Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC]