(mä′yə)
1. In Hindu religion, Devi, mother of the world; the personified active will of the Creator.
2. In Hindu philosophy, illusion, often personified as a maiden. [<Skt. māyā illusion]

(mä′yə) noun
1. One of a tribe of Central American Indians, the most important tribe of the Mayan linguistic stock, still comprising a large percentage of the population of Yucatán, northern Guatemala, and British Honduras. They were the first Indians to develop writing and an accurate astronomical calendar.
2. The language of the Mayas, in its historical and modern forms.
—adjective Of or pertaining to the Mayas, their culture, or their language.