maya

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: ma=ya

CIDE DICTIONARY

maya, n. 

•  The name (in Vedantic philosphy) for the doctrine of the unreality of matter, called, in English, idealism; hence, nothingness; vanity; illusion.  [1913 Webster]
•  the Hindu goddess personifying the power that creates phenomena.  [PJC]
•  the power to produce illusions.  [PJC]

maya, prop. n. 

•  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.]
•  the language of the Mayas.  [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

maya, n.
1 (pl. same or Mayas) a member of an ancient Indian people of Central America.
2 the language of this people.

Derivative

Mayan adj. & n.

Etymology

native name

maya, n. Hinduism a marvel or illusion, esp. in the phenomenal universe.

Etymology

Skr. maya