may
Translingual
Symbol
may
English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle English mowen, mayen, moȝen, maȝen, from Old English magan, *mugan, from Proto-West Germanic *magan, from Proto-Germanic *maganą, from Proto-Indo-European *megʰ-.
Cognate with Dutch mag (“may”, first and third-person singular of mogen (“to be able to, be allowed to, may”)), Low German mögen, German mag (“like”, first and third-person singular of mögen (“to like, want, require”)), Swedish må, Icelandic mega, megum. See also might.
Verb
may (third-person singular simple present may, no present participle, simple past might, no past participle)
- (obsolete, intransitive) To be strong; to have power (over). [8th–17th c.]
- (obsolete, auxiliary) To be able; can. [8th–17th c.]
- 1621, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy, […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and Iames Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition II, section 3, member 6:
- But many times […] we give way to passions we may resist and will not.
- (intransitive, poetic) To be able to go. [from 9th c.]
- 1600, William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, III.3:
- 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 […].
- (modal, defective, auxiliary) To have permission to, to be allowed to. Used in granting permission and in questions to make polite requests; takes a simple bare infinitive. [from 9th c.]
- (modal, defective, auxiliary) Used to express a present or future possibility; aspectually, this sense takes a simple, progressive/continuous or perfect bare infinitive. [from 13th c.]
- he may be lying; Schrödinger's cat may or may not be in the box
- 2011 October 1, Phil Dawkes, “Sunderland 2-2 West Brom”, in BBC Sport:
- The result may not quite give the Wearsiders a sweet ending to what has been a sour week, following allegations of sexual assault and drug possession against defender Titus Bramble, but it does at least demonstrate that their spirit remains strong in the face of adversity.
- 2013 July 6, “The rise of smart beta”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8843, page 68:
- Investors face a quandary. Cash offers a return of virtually zero in many developed countries; government-bond yields may have risen in recent weeks but they are still unattractive. Equities have suffered two big bear markets since 2000 and are wobbling again. It is hardly surprising that pension funds, insurers and endowments are searching for new sources of return.
- (modal, defective, subjunctive, auxiliary) Used to express a wish (takes a simple bare infinitive with present subjunctive effect). [from 16th c.]
- may you win; may the weather be sunny
- 1974, Bob Dylan (lyrics and music), “Forever Young”, in Planet Waves:
- May God bless and keep you always / May your wishes all come true / May you always do for others / And let others do for you / May you build a ladder to the stars / And climb on every rung / May you stay forever young
- 1984, “No More Lonely Nights”, performed by Paul McCartney:
- May I never miss the thrill of being near you
- Synonym: might
- (modal, defective, auxiliary) Used in modesty, courtesy, or concession, or to soften a question or remark.
- 1744 [1720], Matthew Prior, “Phillis's age”, in Joe Miller's Jests[1], seventh edition:
- How old may Phillis be, you ask, / Whose Beauty thus all Hearts engages.
Usage notes
- May is now a defective verb. It has no infinitive, no past participle, and no future tense. Forms of to be allowed to are used to replace these missing tenses.
- The simple past (both indicative and subjunctive) of may is might
- The present tense is negated as may not, which can be contracted to mayn't, although this is old-fashioned; the simple past is negated as might not, which can be contracted to mightn't.
- May has archaic second-person singular present forms mayest and mayst.
- Usage of this word in the sense of possibly is considered incorrect by some speakers and writers, as it blurs the meaning of the word in the sense have permission to. These speakers and writers prefer to use the word might instead.
- Conversely, since may not is particularly likely to promote confusion between the senses of "will possibly not" and "is forbidden to," some rules for the drafting of laws and regulations proscribe "may not" and require the use of "must not" or similar for clarity. Example: [2]
- Wishes are often cast in the imperative rather than the subjunctive mood, not using the word may, as in Have a great day! rather than May you have a great day. The use of may for this purpose may lend a more formal, literary, or solemn feeling (perhaps jocularly so) to the wish. Moreover, wishes in the subjunctive need not use may if the meaning is clear without it, which is the case mainly for established expressions in the third-person singular such as God help you.
Derived terms
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
See also
Etymology 2
French mai, so called because it blossoms in the month of May.
Noun
may (uncountable)
Derived terms
Translations
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Verb
may (third-person singular simple present mays, present participle maying, simple past and past participle mayed)
- (poetic, intransitive) To gather may, or flowers in general.
- 1922, A. E. Housman, Last Poems, VII, lines 1-2:
- In valleys green and still / Where lovers wander maying
- (poetic, intransitive) To celebrate May Day.
Etymology 3
Shortening of maid, from maiden.
Noun
may (plural mays)
Anagrams
Azerbaijani
Etymology
Internationalism; likely via Russian май (maj), ultimately from Latin Maius.
Pronunciation
Audio: (file)
Noun
Declension
Declension of may | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
singular | plural | |||||||
nominative | may |
maylar | ||||||
definite accusative | mayı |
mayları | ||||||
dative | maya |
maylara | ||||||
locative | mayda |
maylarda | ||||||
ablative | maydan |
maylardan | ||||||
definite genitive | mayın |
mayların |
See also
- (Gregorian calendar months) ay; yanvar, fevral, mart, aprel, may, iyun, iyul, avqust, sentyabr, oktyabr, noyabr, dekabr (Category: az:Months)
Bikol Central
Pronunciation
Verb
may
- there is; there's
- May tawo sa luwas.
- There is a person outside./There's someone outside.
- to have
- May kuwarta ako.
- I have money.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Crimean Tatar
Noun
may
Declension
nominative | may |
---|---|
genitive | maynıñ |
dative | mayğa |
accusative | maynı |
locative | mayda |
ablative | maydan |
Synonyms
Kalasha
Determiner
may
Pronoun
may
Mapudungun
Adverb
may (Raguileo spelling)
References
- Wixaleyiñ: Mapucezugun-wigkazugun pici hemvlcijka (Wixaleyiñ: Small Mapudungun-Spanish dictionary), Beretta, Marta; Cañumil, Dario; Cañumil, Tulio, 2008.
Northern Kurdish
Noun
may m
Derived terms
Pacoh
Etymology
From Proto-Katuic *maj, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *mi[i]ʔ.
Pronunciation
Pronoun
may
- you (second person singular pronoun)
Affixed forms
Quechua
Adverb
may
Derived terms
See also
Pronoun
may
- (interrogative pronoun) which
Verb
may
- (transitive) to fear
Conjugation
infinitive | may | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
agentive | maq | |||||||
present participle | maspa | |||||||
past participle | masqa | |||||||
future participle | mana | |||||||
singular | plural | |||||||
1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | 1st person inclusive |
1st person exclusive |
2nd person | 3rd person | ||
indicative | ñuqa | qam | pay | ñuqanchik | ñuqayku | qamkuna | paykuna | |
present | mani | manki | man | manchik | mayku maniku1 |
mankichik | manku | |
past (experienced) |
marqani | marqanki | marqan | marqanchik | marqayku marqaniku |
marqankichik | marqanku | |
past (reported) |
masqani | masqanki | masqan | masqanchik | masqayku masqaniku |
masqankichik | masqanku | |
future | masaq | manki | manqa | masunchik | masaqku | mankichik | manqaku | |
imperative | — | qam | pay | — | — | qamkuna | paykuna | |
affirmative | may | machun | maychik | machunku | ||||
negative | ama maychu |
ama machunchu |
ama maychikchu |
ama machunkuchu | ||||
1 The conjugation -niku is only for the Ayacucho-Chanca variety. |
Tagalog
Alternative forms
Particle
may
- particle used as an existential marker; to be; to have
- Antonym: wala
- May tubig sa bahay.
- There is water in the house.
- May ginto sa kuweba.
- There is gold in the cave.
- May mga malalaking pating sa dagat.
- There are big sharks in the sea.
Synonyms
Tatar
Alternative forms
- май (may)
Noun
may
- May (Month of the Year)
Declension
See also
Uzbek
Etymology
From Russian май (maj), from Latin māius.
Noun
may (plural maylar)
Declension
Related terms
- (Gregorian calendar months) oy; yanvar, fevral, mart, aprel, may, iyun, iyul, avgust, sentabr, oktabr, noyabr, dekabr (Category: uz:Months)
Vietnamese
Pronunciation
- (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [maj˧˧]
- (Huế) IPA(key): [maj˧˧]
- (Saigon) IPA(key): [ma(ː)j˧˧]
Audio (Hồ Chí Minh City): (file)
Etymology 1
Verb
- to sew
See also
Etymology 2
Adjective
See also
Walloon
Etymology
From Old French mai, from Latin Māius.
Noun
may
- May (month)
See also
- Translingual lemmas
- Translingual symbols
- ISO 639-2
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/eɪ
- Rhymes:English/eɪ/1 syllable
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *megʰ-
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European
- English lemmas
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- English terms derived from French
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- English uncountable nouns
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- English defective verbs
- English irregular verbs
- English modal verbs
- en:Pome fruits
- Azerbaijani internationalisms
- Azerbaijani terms derived from Latin
- Azerbaijani terms with audio links
- az:Months
- Bikol Central terms with IPA pronunciation
- Bikol Central lemmas
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- Bikol Central terms with usage examples
- Crimean Tatar lemmas
- Crimean Tatar nouns
- Kalasha lemmas
- Kalasha determiners
- Kalasha pronouns
- Mapudungun lemmas
- Mapudungun adverbs
- Raguileo Mapudungun spellings
- Northern Kurdish lemmas
- Northern Kurdish nouns
- Northern Kurdish masculine nouns
- Pacoh terms inherited from Proto-Katuic
- Pacoh terms derived from Proto-Katuic
- Pacoh terms inherited from Proto-Mon-Khmer
- Pacoh terms derived from Proto-Mon-Khmer
- Pacoh terms with IPA pronunciation
- Pacoh lemmas
- Pacoh pronouns
- Quechua lemmas
- Quechua adverbs
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- tt:Months
- Uzbek terms borrowed from Russian
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- Uzbek lemmas
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- uz:Months
- uz:Gregorian calendar months
- Vietnamese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Vietnamese terms with audio links
- Vietnamese lemmas
- Vietnamese verbs
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- Walloon terms inherited from Old French
- Walloon terms derived from Old French
- Walloon terms inherited from Latin
- Walloon terms derived from Latin
- Walloon lemmas
- Walloon nouns
- Walloon entries with topic categories using raw markup
- wa:Months