Definition of Mayan

1. Noun. A member of an American Indian people of Yucatan and Belize and Guatemala who had a culture (which reached its peak between AD 300 and 900) characterized by outstanding architecture and pottery and astronomy. "Mayans had a system of writing and an accurate calendar"

Exact synonyms: Maya
Group relationships: Federation Of Tribes, Tribe
Generic synonyms: American Indian, Indian, Red Indian
Specialized synonyms: Cakchiquel, Kekchi, Mam, Quiche, Yucatec, Yucateco

2. Noun. A family of American Indian languages spoken by Maya.

Definition of Mayan

1. a. Designating, or pertaining to, an American Indian linguistic stock occupying the Mexican States of Veracruz, Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, and Yucatan, together with a part of Guatemala and a part of Salvador. The Mayan peoples are dark, short, and brachycephallic, 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 places, and they possessed a superior calendar, and a developed system of hieroglyphic writing, with records said to go back to about 700 a. d.

Definition of Mayan

1. Adjective. Of, or relating to the Maya people of Central America. ¹

2. Noun. A Maya ¹

3. Noun. A Mayan language ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Mayan

1. maya [adj] - See also: maya

Lexicographical Neighbors of Mayan

May apples
May beetle
May blob
May blossom
May bug
May lily
May queen
May wine
May wines
Maya
Maya Lin
Mayaca
Mayacaceae
Mayaguez
Mayakovski
Mayan (current term)
Mayan language
Mayan pyramid
Mayan pyramids
Mayanist
Mayanists
Mayans
Mayaro virus
Mayas
Maybel
Mayberry
Mayberry Machiavelli
Mayberry Machiavellis
Mayday
Mayduke

Literary usage of Mayan

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the by Charles George Herbermann, Edward Aloysius Pace, Condé Bénoist Pallen, Thomas Joseph Shahan, John Joseph Wynne (1913)
"The Mayan linguistic stock includes some twenty tubes, speaking closely related dialects, ... All the tribes of this stock were of high culture, the Mayan ..."

2. Tusayan Migration Traditions by Jesse Walter Fewkes (1900)
"00 —, on importance of Ahau and Mayan time counts .-' 816 —, on initial series of various Mayan inscriptions 800-808 —, on interpreting Mayan time symbols. ..."

3. Ancient Civilizations of Mexico and Central America by Herbert Joseph Spinden (1922)
"Metal was probably unknown during the first centuries of Mayan florescence, ... Having now passed in brief review the objective side of Mayan remains, ..."

4. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society Held at Philadelphia for by American Philosophical Society (1880)
"is Mayan for year; and Valentin! thinks that the rope symbol for year was ... for it is absolutely identical with the Egyptian curled U. The Mayan word for ..."

5. The Story of Mexico by Susan Hale (1888)
"Such are the monuments of the Mayan people, of whom not many facts are to be disentangled from the early ... His name was Votan, in the Mayan tradition. ..."

6. The American Antiquarian and Oriental Journal by Stephen Denison Peet (1898)
"THE MONGOL-Mayan CONSTITUTION. BV JAMES WICKERSHAM. Out of their ancient numerical philosophy the Mongolian people evolved a system of government based upon ..."

7. Researches Into the Physical History of Mankind by James Cowles Prichard (1847)
"Extension of the Mayan Race. The Mayan race appears to have been the most widely extended, as it will appear from the following observations. ..."

8. International Religious Freedom (2000): Report to Congress by the Department edited by Barbara Larkin (2001)
"Expelled evangelical families reported that the Catholic/Mayan ... governor Roberto Albores offered social programs to the Catholic/Mayan ..."

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