Mayan
/ˈmʌɪ(j)ən
/ /ˈmeɪ(j)ən /noun [mass noun]
A large family of American Indian languages spoken in Central America and Mexico, of which the chief members are Maya, Quiché, and Tzeltal.When Monteczuma's envoys came to Tabasco to find out information about Cortes, they spoke only Nahuatl while Cortes's Spanish translator spoke only Mayan....
- With songs in Spanish, English, Mayan, and Zapotec, it reflects the babel of voices that is our ever-expanding border region.
- The movie will definitely be performed in Mayan, an ancient pre-Colombian language.
adjective
1Denoting or relating to the Mayan family of languages.At the time it wasn't clear which of the many Mayan languages this might refer to, but now the situation has been clarified - sort of - by Gibson himself....
- Language issues can be intimately linked with assimilation, as children sometimes reject both their Mayan language and customs.
- We are Mayan people; we speak twenty-two different Mayan languages.
2Relating to or denoting the Maya people.Further, the program had gained acceptance from dozens of Mayan communities....
- Maya Gold is produced using cocoa grown by Mayan farmers in Toledo, an impoverished jungle region of southern Belize.
- The great Mayan cities were all built around cenote and the Maya regarded them as sacred.
