mayan
mayan — adjective
- mayanpositive
- more mayancomparative
- most mayansuperlative
1. connected with the Maya people and with their languages, traditions, and old soc
connected with the Maya people and with their languages, traditions, and old societies in southern Mexico and nearby parts of Central America
The museum's Mayan pottery room stayed crowded all afternoon.
Mayan + artifact noun
Naoko bought a book about Mayan farming methods before the trip.
Mayan + culture/history noun
Our guide showed us Mayan stone carvings near the jungle path.
Elise compared Mayan calendar symbols with the notes from class.
- Mayan culture
- Mayan calendar
- Mayan ruins
- Mayan language
- Maya
often used when naming the people directly; Mayan is common before culture and language nouns
Grammar Patterns
Mayan + noun
Usage Note
Always capitalized. It is most often used before nouns for art, history, architecture, language, or other things linked to the Maya world.
Common Mistakes
mayan — noun
1. a person from one of the indigenous peoples whose traditional languages belong t
a person from one of the indigenous peoples whose traditional languages belong to the Mayan family
Christopher met a Mayan farmer who still grew corn by hand.
a Mayan + role noun
Beatriz interviewed several Mayans at the village market yesterday.
plural form: Mayans
The textbook says many Mayans kept local farming traditions alive.
Aylin learned cooking methods from a Mayan during the village tour.
- a Mayan guide
- a Mayan farmer
- many Mayans
- Mayan communities
- Maya
often preferred when referring to the people as a whole rather than one individual
Grammar Patterns
a Mayan
many Mayans
Usage Note
This sense names one person or a group of people. In academic writing, Maya is also common for the people as a whole, but this entry follows the source word Mayan.
Common Mistakes
2. the group of related indigenous languages spoken in southern Mexico and nearby p
the group of related indigenous languages spoken in southern Mexico and nearby parts of Central America
Linguists divide Mayan into many related languages and smaller branches.
Mayan as a language family term
Kemi wrote a paper on how Mayan developed over time.
The course introduces Mayan before students study individual languages.
family first, then member languages
Ravindra explained that Mayan includes Yucatec and several related languages.
- Mayan language family
- Mayan languages
- branches of Mayan
- Mayan language family
full form used when writers want to make the technical meaning explicit
Grammar Patterns
the Mayan language family
Mayan includes ...
Usage Note
In linguistics, this usually names the whole family, not one single language. When you mean a specific language, say a Mayan language or use the language's own name.