Mayan
The adjective Mayan is sometimes used to refer to the indigenous peoples of southeastern Mexico and parts of Central America, such as Guatemala; their culture, language, and history. More formally, the use of "Mayan" is restricted to referring to an aspect of their languages; "Maya" is the adjectival form preferred when referring to non-linguistic aspects. A "Mayanist" is a scholar who specializes in Mayan civilization.
Mayan may also refer to:
- Maya civilization - dealing with the historical pre-Columbian Maya civilization, culture, history and archaeology
- Maya architecture
- Maya religion - the religious practices of the Maya civilization
- Maya mythology - the myths and legends of the Maya civilization
- Maya peoples - collective designation for the various indigenous peoples of the region, sharing cultural and linguistic heritage
- Maya society - social constructs and practices of the Maya civilization
- Mayan languages - a language family of related languages traditionally spoken by the Maya peoples
- Yucatec Maya language - a specific Mayan language, often referred to simply as 'Mayan' (or Maya)
- Maya script - the writing system in use by the pre-Columbian Maya civilization
Other meanings
- Maayan - an Israeli poems and art magazine.
- Maians – a fictional alien race in the video game, Perfect Dark
- Mayan Records maybe the name of a record company, which is an imprint of Sanctuary Records
- Mayan (Iran) - a village near Tabriz, Iran
- Mamuni Mayan - Dravidian culture hero
- Mayan stage - a Cambrian Faunal stage that occurred during the end of the Middle Cambrian.
- Mayans, a fictional biker gang in the TV series Sons of Anarchy
- MaYaN, a Dutch symphonic metal band
- Maya is the concept in Indian religions of illusion accepted as the daily reality of the unenlightened. In Hinduism, for example, Maya is the deity that manifests the world as a seductive illusory projection which souls immersively experience through their senses. The term is also used as a synonym for such illusion.