ma•ya
Pronunciation: (mä'yä, -yu), [key]
— n. Hinduism.
- the power, as of a god, to produce illusions.
- the production of an illusion.
- (in Vedantic philosophy) the illusion of the reality of sensory experience and of the experienced qualities and attributes of oneself.
- (cap.) Also calleda goddess personifying the power that creates phenomena.
Ma•ya
Pronunciation: (mä'yu), [key]
— n., pl. adj. -yas, -ya,
—n.
- a member of a major pre-Columbian civilization of the Yucatán Peninsula that reached its peak in the 9th centurya.d.and produced magnificent ceremonial cities with pyramids, a sophisticated mathematical and calendar system, hieroglyphic writing, and fine sculpture, painting, and ceramics.
- a member of a modern American Indian people of southern Mexico, Guatemala, and parts of Honduras who are the descendants of this ancient civilization.
- any of the Mayan languages; the historical and modern languages of the Mayas.
—adj.
- Mayan.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.