maya

1 of 2

noun (1)

ma·​ya ˈmä-yə 

ˈmī-ə

: the sense-world of manifold phenomena held in Vedanta to conceal the unity of absolute being

broadly : illusion

Maya

2 of 2

noun (2)

Ma·​ya ˈmī-ə 

plural Maya or Mayas

1

a

: a Mayan language of the ancient Maya peoples recorded in inscriptions

b

: yucatec

especially : the older form of that language known from documents of the Spanish period

2

: a member of a group of Indian peoples chiefly of Yucatán, Belize, and Guatemala whose languages are Mayan

Examples of maya in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Circle of fire: The frame around Nataraja is maya, illusion, as experienced through the cyclical phenomenon of birth & death. —Harish Pullanoor, Quartz India, 18 Dec. 2019

Between the gods and mortal men and women there hung a veil, and its name was maya. —Salman Rushdie, The New Yorker, 22 July 2019

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Sanskrit māyā

Noun (2)

Spanish

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1788, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

1825, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

Maya

noun

Ma·​ya ˈmī-ə 

plural Maya or Mayas

: a member of a group of Indigenous peoples of the Yucatán Peninsula and neighboring areas

Mayan

ˈmī-ən

adjective