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16 dictionary results for: May

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

may1

[mey] Pronunciation Key

–auxiliary verb, present singular 1st person may, 2nd may or (Archaic

) may·est or mayst, 3rd may; present plural may; past might.

1.	(used to express possibility): It may rain.

2.	(used to express opportunity or permission): You may enter.

3.	(used to express contingency, esp. in clauses indicating condition, concession, purpose, result, etc.): I may be wrong but I think you would be wise to go. Times may change but human nature stays the same.

4.	(used to express wish or prayer): May you live to an old age.

5.	Archaic. (used to express ability or power.)

Compare might¹.

[Origin: bef. 900; ME mai 1st and 3rd pers. sing. pres. ind. of mouen, OE mæg (inf. magan); c. G mögen

]

—Usage note See can¹.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

may2

[mey] Pronunciation Key

–noun Archaic.

a maiden.

[Origin: bef. 900; ME mai; OE mæg

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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May

[mey] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	the fifth month of the year, containing 31 days.

2.	the early part of one's life, esp. the prime: a young woman in her May.

3.	the festivities of May Day.

4.	(lowercase) British. the hawthorn.

5.	a female given name.

–verb (used without object)

6.	(lowercase) to gather flowers in the spring: when we were maying.

[Origin: bef. 1050; ME, OE Maius < L, short for Maius ménsis Maia's month

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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May

[mey] Pronunciation Key

–noun

Cape, a cape at the SE tip of New Jersey, on Delaware Bay.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

may¹ (mā) Pronunciation Key
aux.v. Past tense might (mīt)

To be allowed or permitted to: May I take a swim? Yes, you may.
Used to indicate a certain measure of likelihood or possibility: It may rain this afternoon.
Used to express a desire or fervent wish: Long may he live!
Used to express contingency, purpose, or result in clauses introduced by that or so that: expressing ideas so that the average person may understand.
To be obliged; must. Used in statutes, deeds, and other legal documents. See Usage Note at can¹.

[Middle English, to be able, from Old English mæg, first and third person sing. of magan, to be strong, be able; see magh- in Indo-European roots.]

(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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may² (mā) Pronunciation Key
n. Chiefly British
The blossoms of the hawthorn.

[French mai, hawthorn, from Mai, May (so called because it blooms in May); see May.]

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May (mā) Pronunciation Key
n.

The fifth month of the year in the Gregorian calendar. See Table at calendar.
The springtime of life; youth.
The celebration of May Day.

[Middle English, from Old French Mai, from Latin Māius (mēnsis), (the month) of Maia, from Māia, an Italic goddess; see meg- in Indo-European roots.]

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May, Cape
A peninsula of southern New Jersey between the Atlantic Ocean and Delaware Bay. The southern tip forms Cape May Point.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
may

O.E. mæg "I am able" (inf. magan, pt. meahte, mihte), from P.Gmc. root *mag-, inf. *maganan (cf. O.Fris. muga, O.N. mega, Du. mogen, Ger. mögen, Goth. magan "to be able"), from PIE *mogh-/*megh- "power" (cf. Gk. mekhos, makhos "means, instrument," O.C.S. mogo "to be able," mosti "power, force," Skt. mahan "great"). Also related to might (q.v.). Mayhap is 1536, from phrase (it) may hap.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
May

1110, from O.Fr. mai, from L. Majus, Maius mensis "month of May," possibly from Maja, Maia a Roman earth goddess (wife of Vulcan) whose name is possibly from PIE *mag-ya "she who is great," fem. suffixed form of base *meg- "great" (cognate with L. magnus). Replaced O.E. þrimilce, month in which cows can be milked three times a day. May marriage have been considered unlucky at least since Ovid's day. Mayflower (1626) was used locally for the cowslip, the lady's smock, and other plants that bloom in May. May apple attested from 1733.

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

may
noun
1.	the month following April and preceding June
2.	thorny Eurasian shrub of small tree having dense clusters of white to scarlet flowers followed by deep red berries; established as an escape in eastern North America [syn: whitethorn]

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American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms - Cite This Source - Share This

may

see be that as it may; come what may; let the chips fall where they may; to whom it may concern.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

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U.S. Gazetteer - Cite This Source - Share This

Cape May County, NJ (county, FIPS 9) Location: 39.07747 N, 74.85861 W
Population (1990): 95089 (85537 housing units)
Area: 661.0 sq km (land), 945.6 sq km (water)

Cape May Point, NJ (borough, FIPS 10330) Location: 38.93678 N, 74.96564 W
Population (1990): 248 (578 housing units)
Area: 0.8 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)

Cape May Court H, NJ Zip code(s): 08210

Cape May Court House, NJ (CDP, FIPS 10300) Location: 39.07990 N, 74.82389 W
Population (1990): 4426 (1859 housing units)
Area: 23.2 sq km (land), 0.3 sq km (water)

May, OK (town, FIPS 47000) Location: 36.61650 N, 99.74896 W
Population (1990): 42 (34 housing units)
Area: 0.5 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 73851

May, TX Zip code(s): 76857

Cape May, NJ (city, FIPS 10270) Location: 38.94006 N, 74.90548 W
Population (1990): 4668 (4052 housing units)
Area: 6.4 sq km (land), 0.8 sq km (water)

North Cape May, NJ (CDP, FIPS 52650) Location: 38.97629 N, 74.95171 W
Population (1990): 3574 (2120 housing units)
Area: 3.6 sq km (land), 0.2 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 08204

West Cape May, NJ (borough, FIPS 78530) Location: 38.94139 N, 74.93787 W
Population (1990): 1026 (913 housing units)
Area: 3.1 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)

U.S. Gazetteer, U.S. Census Bureau

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

May

May\, v. [imp. Might] [AS. pres. m[ae]g I am able, pret. meahte, mihte; akin to D. mogen, G. m["o]gen, OHG. mugan, magan, Icel. mega, Goth. magan, Russ. moche. ?. Cf. Dismay, Main strength, Might. The old imp. mought is obsolete, except as a provincial word.] An auxiliary verb qualifyng the meaning of another verb, by expressing: (a) Ability, competency, or possibility; -- now oftener expressed by can.

How may a man, said he, with idle speech, Be won to spoil the castle of his health ! --Spenser.

For what he [the king] may do is of two kinds; what he may do as just, and what he may do as possible. --Bacon.

For of all sad words of tongue or pen The saddest are these: "It might have been." --Whittier. (b) Liberty; permission; allowance.

Thou mayst be no longer steward. --Luke xvi. 2. (c) Contingency or liability; possibility or probability.

Though what he learns he speaks, and may advance Some general maxims, or be right by chance. --Pope. (d) Modesty, courtesy, or concession, or a desire to soften a question or remark.

How old may Phillis be, you ask. --Prior. (e) Desire or wish, as in prayer, imprecation, benediction, and the like. "May you live happily." --Dryden.

May be, & It may be, are used as equivalent to possibly, perhaps, by chance, peradventure. See 1st Maybe.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

May

May\, n. [Cf. Icel. m[ae]r, Goth. mawi; akin to E. maiden. ?.] A maiden. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

May

May\, n. [F. Mai, L. Maius; so named in honor of the goddess Maia (Gr. ?), daughter of Atlas and mother of Mercury by Jupiter.]

1. The fifth month of the year, containing thirty-one days. --Chaucer.

2. The early part or springtime of life.

His May of youth, and bloom of lustihood. --Shak.

3. (Bot.) The flowers of the hawthorn; -- so called from their time of blossoming; also, the hawthorn.

The palm and may make country houses gay. --Nash.

Plumes that micked the may. --Tennyson.

4. The merrymaking of May Day. --Tennyson.

Italian may (Bot.), a shrubby species of Spir[ae]a (S. hypericifolia) with many clusters of small white flowers along the slender branches.

May apple (Bot.), the fruit of an American plant (Podophyllum peltatum). Also, the plant itself (popularly called mandrake), which has two lobed leaves, and bears a single egg-shaped fruit at the forking. The root and leaves, used in medicine, are powerfully drastic.

May beetle, May bug (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of large lamellicorn beetles that appear in the winged state in May. They belong to Melolontha, and allied genera. Called also June beetle.

May Day, the first day of May; -- celebrated in the rustic parts of England by the crowning of a May queen with a garland, and by dancing about a May pole.

May dew, the morning dew of the first day of May, to which magical properties were attributed.

May flower (Bot.), a plant that flowers in May; also, its blossom. See Mayflower, in the vocabulary.

May fly (Zo["o]l.), any species of Ephemera, and allied genera; -- so called because the mature flies of many species appear in May. See Ephemeral fly, under Ephemeral.

May game, any May-day sport.

May lady, the queen or lady of May, in old May games.

May lily (Bot.), the lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis).

May pole. See Maypole in the Vocabulary.

May queen, a girl or young woman crowned queen in the sports of May Day.

May thorn, the hawthorn.

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