maya

maya — noun

1. in Hindu philosophy, the power that creates the everyday world of separate objec

1.nounC1
Definition

in Hindu philosophy, the power that creates the everyday world of separate objects and people, hiding the single ultimate reality that lies beneath it all.

Example

Bilal spent the lecture trying to understand how maya conceals the unity of all existence.

maya + conceals: philosophical collocation for sense 1

The teacher said maya is not empty illusion but a real force that shapes what we see.

Common collocations
  • concealed by maya
  • power of maya
  • maya of the world
  • beyond maya
  • veil of maya
Synonyms
  • illusion

    common but imprecise translation of maya; illusion suggests something unreal, while maya is a creative power that appears real

  • apparition

    too narrow and ghostly; maya is a systematic world-appearance, not a fleeting vision

  • veil

    metaphorical term that captures the idea of concealment but lacks the creative aspect of maya

Antonyms
  • brahman

    the ultimate reality that maya conceals; brahman is the single unchanging truth behind the manifold world

Usage Note

Often capitalised (Maya) in academic writing about Hindu philosophy. The term comes from Sanskrit and is most commonly used in discussions of Vedanta and Advaita traditions.

Common Mistakes

Maya is a simple lie.
Maya is the cosmic force that creates the appearance of a separate world.
Maya is not just lying or falsehood; it is a philosophical concept about the nature of perceived reality.

2. someone who belongs to the Indigenous peoples from southeast Mexico through nort

2.nounB1
Definition

someone who belongs to the Indigenous peoples from southeast Mexico through northern Belize into the Guatemalan lowlands, whose ancestors created a civilisation famous for its writing, mathematics, and stone pyramids.

Example

The Maya built impressive stone pyramids at Chichén Itzá that still draw visitors today.

the Maya + built: subject-verb collocation for the civilisation

Ezra visited a Maya village in Guatemala where women weave traditional textiles on backstrap looms.

Common collocations
  • Maya civilisation
  • Maya people
  • Maya calendar
  • Maya architecture
  • Maya ruins
  • modern Maya
  • ancient Maya
Synonyms
  • Mayan

    often used interchangeably but more correctly refers to the language family or as an adjective; 'Maya people' is preferred for the ethnic group

Usage Note

The plural form 'the Maya' (without -s) is standard when referring to the people as a group: 'the Maya built cities'. The singular 'a Maya' refers to one individual. 'Mayan' is used as an adjective (Mayan culture) or for the language family.

Common Mistakes

The Mayans built the pyramids.
The Maya built the pyramids.
'Maya' is preferred over 'Mayans' when referring to the people; 'Mayan' is reserved for the language family.

3. the written language used by the ancient Maya civilisation, recorded in stone in

3.nounB2
Definition

the written language used by the ancient Maya civilisation, recorded in stone inscriptions on monuments and in a few surviving books called codices.

Example

Kabir can read the ancient Maya script carved on the stone stelae at Copán.

read the ancient Maya script: typical verb + object pattern

Only a few books written in the Maya language survived the Spanish conquest.

Common collocations
  • Maya script
  • Maya inscriptions
  • written in Maya
  • Maya language
  • Classical Maya
Synonyms
  • Classical Maya

    technical term for the written language of the Classic period (250–900 CE)

  • Epigraphic Maya

    term used by linguists for the language recorded in inscriptions

Usage Note

This sense refers to the single written language (Classical Maya or Epigraphic Maya) found in ancient inscriptions. It is distinct from the modern spoken languages of the Maya language family, such as Yucatec Maya (sense 4).

Common Mistakes

I want to learn Maya so I can talk to people in Yucatán.
I want to learn Yucatec Maya so I can talk to people in Yucatán.
The ancient written language (sense 3) is not the same as the modern spoken language (sense 4).

4. a modern Mayan language spoken by about 800,000 people on the Yucatán Peninsula

4.nounB2
Definition

a modern Mayan language spoken by about 800,000 people on the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico and parts of Belize; also called Yucatec or Yucatec Maya.

Example

Adisa practises Yucatec Maya with his grandmother, who speaks it fluently at home.

speaks Yucatec Maya: typical verb + language collocation

Tamar studied Yucatec Maya for a year before travelling to the Yucatán to teach.

Common collocations
  • speak Yucatec Maya
  • Yucatec Maya language
  • learn Yucatec Maya
  • Yucatec Maya speaker
Synonyms
  • Yucatec

    short form, commonly used by linguists

  • Yucatec Maya

    full name that distinguishes it from other Mayan languages

Usage Note

Also called Yucatec Maya or simply Yucatec. This is one of about 30 Mayan languages still spoken today. Do not confuse with the ancient written language (sense 3); Yucatec Maya is a living, spoken language with its own modern dialects.

Common Mistakes

Yucatec Maya is the same as the language on the stone carvings.
Yucatec Maya is a modern spoken language related to, but not identical with, the ancient written Maya.
Modern Yucatec Maya and the ancient script represent different historical stages.

Word family

  • Mayan
    adjectiveB1
  • Mayan
    nounB1
  • Mayans
    nounB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Maya differs from these related terms in both scope and philosophical weight. An illusion is a simple false perception — a puddle on the road that is really just a reflection. An apparition is a ghostly or supernatural figure that briefly appears. A hallucination is a sensory experience with no external cause at all. A delusion is a false belief held despite clear evidence to the contrary. Maya, by contrast, is not a mistake of the senses or the mind. It is the very fabric of the phenomenal world — everything we see, touch, and name — which Hindu philosophy holds to be a creative projection that obscures a single, unchanging ultimate reality. To call maya an 'illusion' is only a rough translation; a better image is a magic show where the audience cannot see how the trick works, except that here the entire cosmos is the stage.

illusion ↗apparitionhallucination ↗delusion

Common collocations

Nouns

  • Maya civilisation
  • Maya culture
  • Maya people
  • Maya script
  • Maya calendar
  • Maya architecture
  • Maya religion
  • Maya concept

Phrases

  • the ancient Maya
  • the modern Maya
  • concept of maya
  • power of maya

Prepositions

  • of the Maya
  • in Maya

Etymology

SanskritEnglishYucatec MayanSpanishEnglish

The word has two distinct origins that converged in English. The philosophical term (sense 1) comes from Sanskrit māyā (माया), meaning 'magic, illusion, power', from the root mā- 'to measure, create' — it shares a distant ancestor with English 'mete' and 'measure'. The ethnic and linguistic terms (senses 2–4) come from Spanish maya, borrowed from Yucatec Mayan mayab 'flat region' or perhaps from the people's own name maaya'. English has used 'Maya' for the people since the 16th century and for the philosophical concept since the 19th century.