Mayan

American  

[mah-yuhn] / ˈmɑ jən /

adjective

1. of or relating to the Maya, their culture, or their languages.

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noun

• Mayans
  plural

1. a member of the Mayan tribe.

2. a group of languages spoken by the Mayas in southern Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize, including Yucatec, Quiché, and Huastec.

Mayan British  

/ ˈmaɪən /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of the Maya or any of their languages

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noun

1. a family of Central American Indian languages, including Maya, possibly a member of the Penutian phylum

2. another name for a Maya 2

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• pseudo-Mayan
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• Mayans
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Mayan

First recorded in 1885–90; May(a) + -an

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Mayan Mayans

The show, which was filmed at the Mayan Theater in downtown Los Angeles, is widely considered the first Latino sketch comedy to air on American television.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026

Once-common literary references to Shakespeare or Dickens have now become as obscure in the common culture as so many Mayan inscriptions.

From Salon ● Apr. 19, 2026

New Mayan cities and communities—which were expected to have finite lifespans—emerged in proximity to abandoned places “that must have been understood as old yet still within historical memory.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026

Plan Kukulkan, named after the serpent deity of the Mayan civilization, covers the host cities as well as nearby tourist destinations.

From Barron's ● Mar. 6, 2026

To other cultures, like the Mayan people of Mexico and Central America, starting with one didn’t seem like the rational thing to do.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife

Chocolate itself first began as Xocolatl, or “bitter water,” a spiced drink made from ground cacao beans, chiles and spices that originated with the Aztecs and Mayans.

From Salon ● Feb. 17, 2025

It has two plazas with temple pyramids, where Mayans would have worshipped, hidden treasures like jade masks and buried their dead.

From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2024

And then, if we take it back to indigenous roots, if you go to Mayans, we have really amazing abdominal massage practices.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2024

A whole network of Konstanz researchers dedicated themselves to unravelling the mystery, including Bernhard Schink, Nicolai Müller, David Schleheck, Jennifer Fleming and Olga Mayans.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 10, 2023

Because their system of counting was based on the number 20, the Mayans naturally divided their year into 18 months of 20 days each, totaling 360 days.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife