Maya
Maya (ma"ya) , noun
1.
(Hindu Philosophy) The name (in Vedantic philosophy) for the doctrine of the unreality of matter, called, in English, idealism; hence, nothingness; vanity; illusion.
2.
(Hindu Philosophy) the Hindu goddess personifying the power that creates phenomena. — [RHUD]
3.
(Hindu Philosophy) the power to produce illusions. — [RHUD]
Maya (ma"yȧ) , proper noun
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.
2.
the language of the Mayas.