Definition for: may

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English

Pronunciation

• AHD: mā , IPA: /meɪ/ , SAMPA: /meI/
• Rhymes: -eɪ

Etymology 1

Old English maġan

Verb

- ( third-person singular simple present may , present participle -, simple past might , past participle -)

1. (modal auxiliary verb, defective) To have permission to. Used in granting permission and in questions to make polite requests.

   You may smoke outside.

   May I sit there?

2. (modal auxiliary verb, defective) Possibly, but not certainly.

   He may be lying.

Usage notes

• Simple past might ; no past participle; no future. For missing tenses, substitute inflected forms of be allowed to . 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 .)
• 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.

Synonyms

• (1): can, could, might
• (2): could, might

Translations

To have permission

possibly, but not certainly

• German : können
• Hungarian : lehet

  You may smoke outside — Kivul dohányozhat.

  May I sit there? — Oda ülhetnék?

  He may be lying — Lehet, hogy hazudik.

• Ido : forsan (4, 5), darfas (1, 2)

• Italian : può ( third person ) (1), forse, può essere che + subjunctive (2)

  You may smoke outside — Potete fumare fuori.

  May I sit there? — Posso sedermi là?

  He may be lying — Forse mente or Può essere che menta.

• Polish : możliwe, że (2)

  He may be lying - Możliwe, że on kłamie.

• Romanian : putea
• Spanish : poder

Etymology 2

From French mai . So called because it blossoms in May.

Noun

may ( plural mays )

1. The hawthorn bush or its blossoms.

Translations

Kurdish

Noun

may , m

1. intervention

Derived words

• mayê xwe tê dan
• maytêder
• maytêderî
• maytêker
• maytêkerî
• mayê xwe tê kirin

Tagalog

Verb

may

1. there is

Other Translations for "may"

Braille 6 Dot
Braille 8 Dot
Sign Language Spelling
Morse Code		-- .- -.--
Binary		1101101 1100001 1111001
Hex		6D6179
Pig Latin		aymay

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