MAYAN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Mayan mean? 

• MAYAN (noun)
  The noun MAYAN has 2 senses:

1. 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

2. a family of American Indian languages spoken by Mayas

  Familiarity information: MAYAN used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MAYAN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Maya; Mayan

Context example:

Mayans had a system of writing and an accurate calendar

Hypernyms ("Mayan" is a kind of...):

Amerindian; Native American (any member of the peoples living in North or South America before the Europeans arrived)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "Mayan"):

Cakchiquel (a member of the Mayan people living in south central Guatemala)

Kekchi (a member of a Mayan people of north central Guatemala)

Mam (a member of a Mayan people of southwestern Guatemala)

Quiche (a member of the Mayan people of south central Guatemala)

Yucatec; Yucateco (a member of the Mayan people of the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico)

Holonyms ("Mayan" is a member of...):

federation of tribes; tribe (a federation (as of American Indians))

Sense 2

Meaning:

A family of American Indian languages spoken by Mayas

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

Maya; Mayan; Mayan language

Hypernyms ("Mayan" is a kind of...):

American-Indian language; American Indian; Amerind; Amerindian language; Indian (any of the languages spoken by Amerindians)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "Mayan"):

Kekchi (a Mayan language spoken by the Kekchi)

Mam (a Mayan language spoken by the Mam)

Yucatec; Yucateco (a Mayan language spoken by the Yucatec)

Quiche (the Mayan language spoken by the Quiche)

Cakchiquel (the Mayan language spoken by the Cakchiquel)

 Context examples 

Researchers using a high-tech aerial mapping scanner have discovered the ruins of tens of thousands of ancient Mayan structures that have been hidden and preserved for centuries under northern Guatemala's thick jungle.

(Hidden Mayan Civilization Revealed in Guatemala Jungle, VOA)

An alliance of U.S., European and Guatemalan archaeologists worked with Guatemala's Mayan Heritage and Nature Foundation on the project over the past two years.

(Hidden Mayan Civilization Revealed in Guatemala Jungle, VOA)

The Mayan culture was at its peak about 1,500 years ago in what is present day southern Mexico, Guatemala and parts of Belize, El Salvador and Honduras.

(Hidden Mayan Civilization Revealed in Guatemala Jungle, VOA)