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Maya. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
Maya, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
Maya in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
Maya you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Borrowed from Spanish maya, from Yucatec Maya mayab (“flat”), a self-designation of the northern Maya for themselves, in the form maya’ found in compounds and phrases e.g. maya’ wíinik (“Maya man”).
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Noun
Maya (plural Mayas or Maya)
- A member or descendant of various peoples:
- a flourishing Mesoamerican civilization that existed in and around Guatemala from the 3rd century to the 9th century.
- various Mesoamerican peoples that continued in competing civilizations from the 10th century onward until conquered by Spain
- various Mesoamerican peoples living in the Spanish Empire, and now parts of Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras
- a variety of Mesoamerican peoples with farming from around 1000 BC onward, who developed a large civilization from the 3rd century onward
Derived terms
Translations
Proper noun
Maya
- The Yucatec Maya language.
- Any of the other various Mayan languages, such as Quiché, Mam and Tzotzil.
Translations
Translations to be checked
See also
Further reading
Ethnologue report on the Maya languages
Etymology 2
From Maria, ultimately from Hebrew, and from Maia, from Latin.
Proper noun
Maya
- A female given name from Hebrew of modern usage.
1988, Arianna Stassinopoulos Huffington, Picasso, Creator and Destroyer, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 240:When her little friends asked her what her name was, her father replied that it was Conchita - his diminutive for Maria de la Concepción. "Con-what?" they would ask again, aware, apparently, that con in French is a fool, an idiot. So her parents started calling her Maria, which from the little girl's lips soon began to sound like Maya. "Maya!" exclaimed her father. "It's perfect. It means the greatest illusion on earth." So Maya it was from then on - Maya Walter.
Translations
Etymology 3
Transliteration of Sanskrit माया (māyā).
Proper noun
Maya
- In Sanskrit, illusion; God's physical and metaphysical creation (literally, "not this").
- A female given name from Sanskrit used in India.
1993, Vikram Seth, A Suitable Boy, Phoenix House, →ISBN, page 891:Eventually, Pran and Savita decided by correspondence on Maya. Its two simple syllables meant, among other things: the goddess Lakshmi, illusion, fascination, art, the goddess Durga, kindness, and the name of the mother of Buddha. It also meant: ignorance, delusion, fraud, guile, and hypocrisy; but no one who named their daughter Maya ever paid any attention to those pejorative possibilities.
- - - 'Why ever not, Ma?' said Meenakshi.'It's a very Bengali name, a very nice name.'
Etymology 4
Transliteration of Sanskrit माया (māyā́) or Pali Māyā.
Proper noun
Maya
- (Buddhism) The mother of Gautama Buddha.
Translations
Anagrams
Danish
Proper noun
Maya
- a female given name of modern usage, variant of Maja
Dutch
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈmaː.jaː/
- Hyphenation: Ma‧ya
Etymology 1
Noun
Maya c (plural Maya's)
- A Maya; a member of the Maya people.
Etymology 2
Proper noun
Maya f
- a female given name
French
Pronunciation
Noun
Maya m or f by sense (plural Mayas)
- Mayan (person)
German
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
Noun
Maya m (strong, genitive Mayas or Maya, plural Mayas or Maya)
- Maya
Derived terms
Proper noun
Maya
- a female given name of modern usage, variant of Maja
Turkish
Proper noun
Maya
- a female given name
- a mountain name in Balkans