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May

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may¹

  • /meɪ/ US, UK
  • /mɛj/ British, Southern, Standard
  • /mæɪ/ Australia, New Zealand
  • /me/ Scotland
  • /mei/ Wales

Sounds like May, Mei · Rhymes with -eɪ

Where it comes from

From Middle English magen, mauen, mawe, mawen, mayen, maȝen, mouin, mow, mowen, moȝen, mugen, from Old English magan, from Proto-West Germanic *magan, from Proto-Germanic *maganą (“to be able, may”), from Proto-Indo-European *(me)mógʰe (“to be able”), from *megʰ- (“to be able”).

Cognates

Cognate with Scots mey (“may”), Yola ma, maa, mai, mey, mye (“may”), North Frisian mai, mei, mooge (“like to, would”), West Frisian meie (“may; to like”), Alemannic German möge (“may; can”), Bavarian megn (“to like; to want to”), Central Franconian mugge (“to like; may”), Cimbrian mögan, möng (“may”), Dutch mogen (“to be allowed; may; to like”), German and Low German mögen (“to like; would like; may”), Yiddish מעגן (megn, “may”), Danish måtte (“have to; may”), Faroese and Icelandic mega (“may; must”), Norwegian Bokmål måtta (“may; must”), Norwegian Nynorsk måtta, måtte (“may; must”), Swedish må (“may; must”), Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌲𐌰𐌽 (magan, “to be able, can, may”); also Irish smacht (“ordinance, regulation, rule; dominion, sway; control, discipline, restraint; fine, penalty”), Lithuanian mėgti (“to like”), Belarusian магчы́ (mahčý, “to be able”), Bulgarian мо́га (móga, “to be able”), Czech moci (“to be able”), Kashubian mòc (“to be able”), Lower Sorbian moc, móc, moz (“to be able”), Macedonian може (može, “to be able”), Pannonian Rusyn мочи (moči, “to be able”), Polish móc (“to be able”), Russian мочь (močʹ, “to be able”), Serbo-Croatian мо̏ћи, mȍći (“to be able”), Slovak môcť (“to be able; be allowed to”), Slovene moči (“to be able”), Slovincian môc (“to be able”), Ukrainian могти́ (mohtý, “to be able”), Persian مغ (moġ, “magus”), Sanskrit मघ (magha, “power, wealth; bounty, gift, reward”).

verb may · might · maye

  1. intransitive, no past participle, no present participle, obsolete To be strong; to have power (over).
  2. auxiliary, no past participle, no present participle, obsolete To be able; can. But many times[…]we give way to passions we may resist and will not.
  3. intransitive, no past participle, no present participle, poetic To be able to go. O weary night, O long and tedious night, Abate thy houres, shine comforts from the East, That I may backe to Athens by day-light […].
  4. auxiliary, defective, modal, no past participle, no present participle To have permission to, be allowed. Used in granting permission and in questions to make polite requests. you may smoke outside
  5. auxiliary, defective, modal, no past participle, no present participle Expressing a present possibility; possibly. he may be lying
  6. auxiliary, defective, modal, no past participle, no present participle Expressing a disjunctive or contrastive relation between indicative statements. You may be my boss, but that doesn't mean you can insult me.
  7. defective, no past participle, no present participle, present, subjunctive Expressing a wish (with present subjunctive effect). may you win;  may the weather be sunny;  long may your reign last
  8. auxiliary, defective, modal, no past participle, no present participle Used in modesty, courtesy, or concession, or to soften a question or remark. How old may Phillis be, you ask, / Whose Beauty thus all Hearts engages.

may²

  • /meɪ/ US, UK
  • /mɛj/ British, Southern, Standard
  • /mæɪ/ Australia, New Zealand
  • /me/ Scotland
  • /mei/ Wales

Sounds like May, Mei · Rhymes with -eɪ

Where it comes from

From French mai, so called because it blossoms in the month of May.

noun

  1. uncountable The hawthorn bush or its blossoms. The fire from Lindfield was coming down the grassy hillside to the right between the hedges of may.

verb mays · maying · mayed

  1. intransitive, poetic To gather may, or flowers in general. Soo it befelle in the moneth of May / quene Gueneuer called vnto her knyȝtes of the table round / and she gafe them warnynge that erly vpon the morowe she wold ryde on mayeng in to woodes & feldes besyde westmynstre. "So it befell in the month of May, Queen Guenever called unto her knights of the Ta
  2. intransitive, poetic To celebrate May Day.

may³

  • /meɪ/ US, UK
  • /mɛj/ British, Southern, Standard
  • /mæɪ/ Australia, New Zealand
  • /me/ Scotland
  • /mei/ Wales

Sounds like May, Mei · Rhymes with -eɪ

Where it comes from

From Middle English may, maye (“woman, maid, girl, virgin”), from Old English mǣġ (“kinswoman”), from Proto-West Germanic *māg, from Proto-Germanic *mēgaz (“kinsman”). Related to Old English māge, mǣġe (“kinswoman”) and Old English mǣġ (“kinsman”).

noun mays

  1. archaic A maiden.

May⁴

  • /meɪ/

Sounds like may, Mei · Rhymes with -eɪ

Where it comes from

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂sder.?

Latin Maia

Proto-Indo-European *-ós

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Proto-Indo-European *-ós

Proto-Indo-European *-ós

Proto-Indo-European *-ós

Proto-Indo-European *-ós

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Proto-Italic *-os

Archaic Latin -os

Latin -us

Latin Maiusder.

Old French maibor.

Middle English May

English May

From Middle English May, Mai, from Old French mai, from Latin Maius (“Maia's month”), from Maia, a Roman earth goddess.

proper noun Mays · Ma · Mae

  1. countable, uncountable The fifth month of the Gregorian calendar, following April and preceding June. Holonyms: calendar year; year
  2. countable, uncountable A female given name, usually pet name for Mary and Margaret, reinforced by the month and plant meaning. […] I will not send Owen's Lily May to the almshouse." "Lily―what?" demanded Mrs. Morley rather sharply, for she was half provoked with what she mentally called Amy's whim of keeping the outcast child when she might send it to the asylum. "Lily May," said Amy, smiling. "Her name is Mary, and we call
  3. countable, uncountable A surname from Middle English.
  4. countable, uncountable Theresa May, former British prime minister.
  5. countable, uncountable A former settlement in Amador County, California.
  6. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Lemhi County, Idaho.
  7. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in McDonald County, Missouri.
  8. countable, uncountable A small town in Harper County, Oklahoma.
  9. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Brown County, Texas.
  10. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Pocahontas County, West Virginia.
  11. countable, uncountable A number of townships in the United States, listed under May Township.

May⁵

Where it comes from

The surname is converged from several origins:

* As an English surname, from Middle English May, a pet form of Matthew (see Mayhew).

* As an English, Dutch, German, Polish, and Jewish surname, from the name of the month.

* Also as an English surname, occasionally a pet form of Mary or Margaret.

* Also as an English surname, from the obsolete noun may (“kinsman”), from Old English maga (“son, relative”).

* Also as an English surname, from obsolete Middle English mei (“physician”), a borrowing from Old English mege, from Latin medicus. See Mee.

* As an Irish surname, Anglicized from Ó Miadhaigh (“descendant of Miadhach”), a name derived from miadh (“honor”).

* As a French surname, shortened from Lemay, Dumay.

* Also as a French surname, from a derivative of Latin Marius, similar to Mario.

* As a Jewish surname, from the town Mayen in Germany.

* As a Chinese surname, from 麥 /麦 (see Mai) and 梅 (méi)) (see Mei).

* As an Amerindian (Mexico) surname of Mayan origin, from maay (“cloven hoof”), originally "young deer."

proper noun Mays · Ma · Mae

  1. A surname.

MAY⁶

proper noun

  1. Alternative letter-case form of May.May.

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