| Maya | ‖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 ] |
| Maya | 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 ] |
| Mayan | a. 1. Designating, or pertaining to, an American Indian linguistic stock occupying the Mexican States of Veracruz, Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, and Yucatan, together with a part of Guatemala and a part of El Salvador. See 2nd Maya. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ] 2. Of or pertaining to the Mayas. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ] |
