maya Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. 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
    Mayan.
    • Mayans had a system of writing and an accurate calendar
  2. noun a family of American Indian languages spoken by Maya
    Mayan; Mayan language.

WordNet


Ma"ya noun
Definitions
  1. (Hindoo Philos.) The name for the doctrine of the unreality of matter, called, in English, idealism; hence, nothingness; vanity; illusion.

Webster 1913