Maya

See also: maya, mayá, maþa, and māyā

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmaɪə/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪə

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”).

Noun

Maya (plural Mayas or Maya)

1. A member or descendant of various peoples:
   1. a flourishing Mesoamerican civilization that existed in and around Guatemala from the 3rd century to the 9th century.
   2. various Mesoamerican peoples that continued in competing civilizations from the 10th century onward until conquered by Spain
   3. various Mesoamerican peoples living in the Spanish Empire, and now parts of Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras
   4. a variety of Mesoamerican peoples with farming from around 1000 BC onward, who developed a large civilization from the 3rd century onward

Derived terms

• Maya blue

 

Translations

person

• Catalan: maia (ca) m or f
• Finnish: maya (fi)
• French: ^{(please verify)} Maya (fr) m or f
• German: Maja m, Maya (de) m
• Odia: ମୟ (or) (maya), ମାୟା (or) (māyā)
• Portuguese: maia (pt) m or f
• Russian: ма́йя (ru) m or f (májja)
• Spanish: maya (es) m or f
• Yucatec Maya: maaya, maaya wíinik

civilization

• Finnish: mayakulttuuri
• German: Majakultur f, Mayakultur f
• Odia: ମୟ (or) (maya), ମାୟା (or) (māyā)
• Russian: ма́йя (ru) m (májja)

Proper noun

Maya

1. The Yucatec Maya language.
2. Any of the other various Mayan languages, such as Quiché, Mam and Tzotzil.

Translations

language

• Catalan: maia (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 瑪雅語 / 玛雅语 (Mǎyǎyǔ)

• Finnish: mayakieli (fi)
• Marathi: माया (mr) f (māyā)
• Persian: مایا (fa) (mâyâ)
• Portuguese: maia (pt) m, iucateque m
• Russian: ма́йя (ru) m (májja)
• Spanish: maya (es) m
• Turkish: Mayaca
• Yucatec Maya: maayatʼaan

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 瑪雅人 / 玛雅人 (zh) (Mǎyǎ rén)

• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} majaoj pl
• Marathi: ^{(please verify)} माया (mr) (māyā)
• Turkish: ^{(please verify)} Maya (tr), ^{(please verify)} Mayalar pl

See also

• Aztec
• Inca
• Mesoamerica
• Olmec
• Toltec

Further reading

Ethnologue report on the Maya languages

Etymology 2

From Maria, ultimately from Hebrew, and from Maia, from Latin.

Proper noun

Maya

1. 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

name

• Finnish: Maija (fi)
• Hebrew: מַאיָה (máya)
• Hungarian: Maja (hu)
• Marathi: माया (mr) f (māyā)
• Polish: Maja (pl) f
• Russian: Ма́йя (ru) f (Májja)

Etymology 3

Transliteration of Sanskrit माया (māyā).

Proper noun

Maya

1. In Sanskrit, illusion; God's physical and metaphysical creation (literally, "not this").
2. 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

1. (Buddhism) The mother of Gautama Buddha.

Translations

mother of Gautama Buddha

• Burmese: မယ်တော်မာယာ (maitaumaya), မာယာ (my) (maya)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 摩耶夫人

• Khmer: ព្រះនាងមាយា (prĕəhniəngmiəyiə)
• Sinhalese: මායා දේවිය (māyā dēwiya)
• Thai: พระนางสิริมหามายา
• Vietnamese: Hoàng hậu Maya

Anagrams

• Amya, Ayam, Yama, amay

Danish

Proper noun

Maya

1. 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)

1. a Maya; a member of the Maya people

Etymology 2

Proper noun

Maya f

1. a female given name

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ma.ja/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophones: Maaia, Maia, maïa, Maïa, maja
• Rhymes: -ja

Noun

Maya m or f by sense (plural Mayas)

1. Mayan (person)

German

Alternative forms

• Maja

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

Maya m (strong, genitive Mayas or Maya, plural Mayas or Maya)

1. Maya

Derived terms

• Mayakultur
• Mayatempel

Proper noun

Maya

1. a female given name of modern usage, variant of Maja

Turkish

Proper noun

Maya

1. a female given name
2. a mountain name in Balkans