† mayn.1
Obsolete.
1. A male relative.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > [noun] > male relative
mayeOE
brotherOE
the world > time > period > a month or calendar month > specific months > [noun] > May
mayeOE
MaylOE
fifth month1698
eOE Épinal Gloss. (1974) 10 Contribulus, meeg.
OE Beowulf 408 Ic eom Higelaces mæg ond magoðegn.
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1127 He wæs ðes kynges mæi of Engleland & þes eorles of Peitowe.
a1225 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Lamb.) 185 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 171 Nalde hit mei do for mei [v.r. meie, mai] ne suster for broðer.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 14037 Moddred mi mæi.
?c1335 in W. Heuser Kildare-Gedichte (1904) 120 (MED) Alle we beþ meiis and mowe.
2. [Translating post-classical Latin parentes in the Vulgate.] In plural. Parents.
ΚΠ
OE West Saxon Gospels: Mark (Corpus Cambr.) xiii. 12 Þa bearn arisað agen hyra magas.
c1175 ( Ælfric Homily (Bodl. 343) in S. Irvine Old Eng. Homilies (1993) 61 For hwæs synnæ wæs ðæs mon swa blind acenned, hwæðer þe for his aȝene, oððe for his maȝæ..? Næs he blind acenned for his aȝene synnum, oððe for his maȝa.
c1200 ( West Saxon Gospels: Mark (Hatton) xiii. 12 Þa bearn ariseð agen heore maiges.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
Mayn.2
/meɪ/, U.S. /meɪ/ 1.
a. The fifth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendar, containing 31 days and falling between April and June.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > period > a month or calendar month > specific months > [noun] > May
mayeOE
MaylOE
fifth month1698
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1110 On þære fiftan nihte on Maies monðe.
lOE Prognostics (Vesp.) in R. D.-N. Warner Early Eng. Homilies (1917) 91 On Mai, hit bodeð hunger gear.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 16074 Elleoue daȝes biforen Maiȝe he ferde of þisse liue.
c1300 St. Augustine (Laud) 83 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 26 (MED) His day is toward þe ende of May.
a1425 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (1987) ii. 1098 I may naught slepe nevere a Mayes morwe.
a1449 J. Lydgate Minor Poems (1934) ii. 781 When the larke..Salueth the vprist of the sonne shene..in Apryl and in May.
c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) 3699 Þai made as mery melody & musik þai sanng As in þe moneths of Mai or mydsomere euyn.
a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) I. clxiii. f. lxxxxii There was Heddys Armys, Leggys, and Trunkys of Dede mennys Bodyes lyinge as thycke as Flowres growe in tyme of may.
a1525 (c1448) R. Holland Bk. Howlat l. 998 in W. A. Craigie Asloan MS (1925) II. 126 In mirthfull moneth of may.
1568 A. Scott Poems (1896) v. 51 In May gois dammosalis and dammis In gardyngis grene.
1598 R. Barnfield Ode in Encomion Lady Pecunia sig. E2v As it fell vpon a Day, In the merrie Month of May.
1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost iv. iii. 100 Loue, whose Month is euer May . View more context for this quotation
1645 J. Milton Sonnet i, in Poems 44 While the jolly hours lead on propitious May.
1659 J. Howell Prov. Eng. Toung 11/1 in Παροιμιογραϕια As welcome as Flowers in May.
a1722 J. Toland Coll. Several Pieces (1726) I. 72 I..admire the address of the Druids, in fixing this ceremony..to the beginning of November, rather than to May or Midsummer.
1785 W. Cowper Task vi. 62 The season smiles,..And has the warmth of May.
1821 J. Galt Ann. Parish vi. 66 It is said, ‘Of the marriages in May, The bairns die of a decay’.
1844 J. E. De Kay Zool. N.-Y. ii. 297 The..Cut-water..reaches our coast from tropical America in May.
1888 C. E. L. Riddell Nun's Curse II. vii. 135 You'll grant me a seven years' lease come next May twelve-month.
1927 Smallholder 26 Mar. 105/2 The main-crop, deep-rooters should be sown at the end of May.
1985 R. Bly Loving Woman in Two Worlds (1987) iii. 77 In the month of May when all leaves open.
b. Chiefly poetic. With allusion to May's position at the start of summer (in the northern hemisphere), and to the vitality, optimism, and exuberance traditionally associated with it for this reason. Formerly esp. in (as) fresh as May.
ΚΠ
c1375 G. Chaucer Monk's Tale 3310 A lemman hadde this noble champioun That highte Dianira, fressh as May.
c1387–95 G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. 92 He was as fresshe as is the monthe of May.
1508 W. Dunbar Goldyn Targe (Chepman & Myllar) in Poems (1998) I. 192 Surmounting ewiry tong terrestriall, Alls fer as Mayes morow dois mydnycht.
1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing i. i. 182 Theres her cosin..exceedes her as much in beautie, as the first of Maie dooth the last of December. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) iv. i. 140 Maides are May when they are maides, but the sky changes when they are wiues. View more context for this quotation
1658 H. Plumptre Let. in 12th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1890) App. v. 6 Wishing that all your yeares yet to come..may partake more of Mayes then Julyes.
1748 T. Gray Ode in R. Dodsley Coll. Poems II. 267 We frolick, while 'tis May.
1752 S. Davies Solomon in Misc. Poems Divine Subjects iv. 12 My Mind enlighten'd with a heav'nly Ray, Was..Deep as the vast Abyss, and vigorous as May.
1833 H. Coleridge New-Year's Day in Poems (1851) I. 60 Kind hearts can make December blithe as May, And in each morrow find a New-Year's day.
1846 N. P. Willis Poems (ed. 6) 246 Thy picture, in my memory now, Is fair as morn, and fresh as May!
1889 D. Hannay Life F. Marryat 150 If he had not spent his summer while it was May—at least he had run through it far too soon.
1907 J. Miller Light i. ii. 15 Such rich rose..As made gold poppies where she lay Turn envious, turn green as May!
1949 E. E. Cummings Puella Mea 20 My very frail lady drifting distinctly..with April feet like sudden flowers and all her body filled with May.
c. poetic. The month of May personified.
ΚΠ
a1425 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (1987) ii. 50 In May, that moder is of monthes glade.
1508 W. Dunbar Goldyn Targe (Chepman & Myllar) in Poems (1998) I. 186 Thare saw I May, of myrthfull monethis quene.
1597 W. Shakespeare Richard II v. i. 79 She came adorned hither like sweete Maie . View more context for this quotation
1645 J. Milton Song: On May Morning in Poems 27 Hail bounteous May that dost inspire Mirth and youth, and warm desire.
1826–34 W. Wordsworth To May i Though many suns have risen and set Since thou, blithe May, wert born.
1914 Crisis June 79 Entranced by the magical minstrel June, May stands in her garden fair.
d. figurative. poetic. One's bloom or prime; the heyday of something.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > age > prime > [noun]
flowering agec1400
pridec1475
blooming-time1495
flower?1507
season?1507
day1546
flourishing years?1555
golden years1559
vigour1563
consistent age1574
prime1574
May moon1576
acme1579
Maya1586
flourish1597
May month1600
consistencea1613
May morna1616
constant age1620
high daya1625
blouth1643
flourishing age1737
heyday1751
floruit1843
bloom-hour1850
blossom-time1860
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Astrophel & Stella (1591) 9 If now the May of my yeeres much decline.
1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing v. i. 76 Ile prooue it on his body if he dare, Dispight his..Maie of youth, and bloome of lustihood. View more context for this quotation
1602 J. Marston Antonios Reuenge i. i. sig. A3 We both were riuals in our May of blood, Vnto Maria.
a1640 P. Massinger Guardian i. i. 23 in 3 New Playes (1655) I am in the May of my abilities, And you in your December.
1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess ii. 46 Others lay about the lawns, Of the older sort, and murmur'd that their May Was passing.
1886 Ld. Tennyson Promise of May iii. 197 So lovely in the promise of her May.
a1907 M. E. Coleridge Maiden in Poems (1908) clxix. 164 By the way she came, that way she went... The May of life shall all be spent Ere she again come hither!
2.
a. A construction of flowers or young foliage assembled on or near May Day to mark the beginning of summer. Also (occasionally): a maypole. Now historical.Later examples of expressions such as to bring in (the) May may belong here or in sense 3.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > social event > festive occasion > specific festivities > [noun] > festivities associated with May-day > branch
May1432
may-branch1560
May-bush1579
1432–3 in R. Peter & O. B. Peter Hist. Launceston & Dunheved (1885) 124 [For expenses about] ‘le May’.
1515 in J. L. Glasscock Rec. St. Michael's, Bishop's Stortford (1882) 34 Item pd for brede and ale th same day that Sabysford may was whan they of Sabysford did come rydynd to the toune to sett ther may.
1582 C. Fetherston Dialogue agaynst Dauncing sig. D7v Tenne maidens whiche went to set May, and nine of them came home with childe.
1700 J. Dryden Flower & Leaf in Wks. (1885) XI. 394 I..met the merry crew, who danced about the May.
1996 R. Hutton Stations of Sun xxiii. 239 At times garlands could take very striking local forms, such as the pyramid of green boughs..which appeared at Glatton..in 1854; in this, surely, there was an echo of the huge ‘Mays’ of late medieval urban parades.
b. The festivities of May Day (see May Day n.1). Now rare except in Queen of the May n. at Phrases 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > social event > festive occasion > specific festivities > [noun] > festivities associated with May-day
maying1386
May1515
May game1519
Beltane1771
1515 in J. L. Glasscock Rec. St. Michael's, Bishop's Stortford (1882) 34 Item pd for brede and ale th same day that Sabysford may.
a1635 T. Randolph Amyntas Prol., in Poems (1638) How shall we talke to Nymphs so trim and gay, That nere saw Lady yet but at a May?
1686 Loyal Garland (ed. 5) B 5 Cloris Queen of all the May.
3. Now chiefly with lower-case initial. Hawthorn blossom; (occasionally) a hawthorn tree.The common hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna, now typically comes into flower around the middle of May in Britain, but before the revision of the calendar in 1752 its blooming probably coincided with the beginning of the month. Hawthorn is notably venerated in British folklore: for an extensive discussion of the superstitions attaching to the plant see R. Mabey Flora Britannica (1996).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > thorny berry-bush > [noun] > hawthorn and allies > branch or blossom
Mayc1450
white motleyc1450
May-bush1579
May blossom1596
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > thorny berry-bush > [noun] > hawthorn and allies
hawthorna700
hawthorn-treec1290
whitethorna1300
haw-treec1325
albespyne?a1425
thorn-tree1483
mespilus1548
may-branch1560
quickthorn1571
hedge-bush1576
busket1579
May-bush1579
Neapolitan medlar1597
azarole1658
pyracanth1664
white bush1676
Glastonbury thorna1697
quick1727
evergreen thorn1731
blackthorn1737
whitethorn1788
oriental medlar1797
haw1821
May-haw1840
Maythorn1844
May1848
pear thorn1848
pink thorn1852
aronia thorn1882
scarlet thorn1882
black haw1897
c1450 C. d'Orleans Poems (1941) 58 (MED) Awake..lete vs at wode to geder may in fere, To holde of oure oold custome the manere.
a1475 (?1445) J. Lydgate Minor Poems (1911) i. 367 (MED) Now, glorious seynt Iohn of Beuerlay..Gadre us floures of heuenly maye.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. viiv On May daye..hys grace..rose in the mornynge very early to fetche May or grene bows.
1600 T. Nashe Summers Last Will sig. B3 The Palme and May make countrey houses gay.
1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies v. xxviii. 413 In this moone and moneth, which is when they bring Maie from the fieldes into the house.
1635 T. Jackson Humiliation Sonne of God 214 By such a maner or trope of speech, as the English and French doe call the buds or flowers of Hawthorne May.
1640 J. Parkinson Theatrum Botanicum 1026 The Hawthorne is called..Hawthorne or Hedgethorne, Whitethorne and May or May-bush.
1784 S. Neville Diary 16 May (1950) xv. 319 The hedges full of sweet may.
1820 P. B. Shelley Question iii The moonlight-coloured May.
1848 J. H. Newman Loss & Gain ii. 5 The laburnums are out, and the may.
1888 F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. (at cited word) It is thought very unlucky, and a sure ‘sign of death’, if May is brought into the house.
1940 A. Mee Norfolk 99 Limes and pink mays grow round the clerestoried church.
1994 D. Healy Goat's Song xxviii. 347 She stopped the car, got out and lifted the warm body over a white hedge of late may.
4. Cambridge University.
a. An examination held at the end of Easter term. Frequently in plural. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > educational administration > examination > [noun] > university examinations > at specific university
May examination1848
May1852
great1854
honour moderations1877
honour mods1877
additional1882
Divvers1905
1852 C. A. Bristed Five Years Eng. University (ed. 2) 63 The College Easter Term Examination, familiarly spoken of as ‘the May’.
1852 C. A. Bristed Five Years Eng. University (ed. 2) 64 The ‘May’ is one of the features which distinguishes Cambridge from Oxford; at the latter there are no public College examinations.
1886 R. Fry Let. 28 Nov. (1972) I. 111 My Mays depress me, so does my Tripos.
1913 Mrs. G. de Horne Vaizey College Girl xxvi. 357 With a second and a first record for Mays there was a possibility—of firsts in the final Tripos.
1933 M. Lowry Ultramarine iii. 125 I failed my first year examinations, verstehen Sie, what we call ‘Mays’.
1934 Granta 6 June 474/2 Mays and Triposes confront the candidate for the academic cursus honorum at yearly intervals.
b. In plural = May races n. at Compounds 1d.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > boat racing or race > [noun] > types of rowing race
torpid1838
bumping race1842
row-over1866
sculls1878
May1879
Lents1886
fours1891
getting-on race1892
row-off1893
re-row1901
tub-race1903
bumper1906
bump1923
bumps race1927
head race1953
1879 ‘J. Home’ Sketches Cambr. 53 And in the trials, in the Mays, From stroke to bow,..they keep the river head.
1901 Daily Chron. 6 May 8/3 The annual ‘Mays’—paradoxically held in June—are fixed for the 5th of the latter month and following days.
1934 Granta 6 June 469 These are the high, the happy days When dancers dance and music plays,..And Auntie comes to watch the Mays.
Phrases
P1. In collocation with December or January, alluding to a romance or marriage between a young woman and an old man.
ΚΠ
c1395 G. Chaucer Merchant's Tale 1695 That she this mayden, which þat Mayus highte..Shal wedded be vnto this Ianuarie.]
c1395 G. Chaucer Merchant's Tale 1886 Thilke day That Ianuarie hath wedded fresshe May.
1581 T. Howell His Deuises sig. I.ij In fayth doth frozen Ianus double face, Such fauour finde, to match with pleasant Maye.
1606 T. Dekker Seuen Deadly Sinnes London vii. sig. F4 You doe wrong to Time, inforcing May to embrace December.
1654 E. Gayton Pleasant Notes Don Quixot ii. iv. 50 When fifteen joines to Seventy, there's old doings (as they say), the Man and Wife fitting together like January and May day.
1734 S.-Carolina Gaz. 11 May 1/1 In this our Town I've heard some Youngster say, That cold December does make Love to May.
1891 R. Buchanan Coming Terror 267 When asthmatic January weds buxom May.
1954 D. S. Davis in Ellery Queen's Myst. Mag. June 38/2 He was seeking advice on his daughter's infatuation with a man three times her age..the May and December affairs are rare indeed.
1981 P. F. Boller Presidential Anecd. 97 When Tyler, a widower, married a woman thirty years his junior, the Whigs circulated jokes about the mating of January and May.
P2. Queen of the May n. = May Queen n.; formerly also †Queen of May, †Lady of the May (cf. May-lady n.). Similarly Lord (also King) of (the) May n. = May-lord n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > social event > festive occasion > persons and characters > [noun] > presiding > at May-day festivities
Queen of the May1506
May King1519
May-lady1564
May-lord1576
Lord (also King) of (the) May1577
May Queen1600
1506 in J. B. Paul Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1901) III. 195 Item, to ane Quene of Maij at the Abbay ȝet, be the Kingis command xiiijs.
1557 H. Machyn Diary (1848) 137 The lord and the lade of the Maye.
1577 Gen. Assembly in F. J. Child Eng. & Sc. Pop. Ballads (1888) III. v. 45 Discharge playes of Robin Hood, King of May, and sick others, on the Sabboth day.
a1586 Peblis to Play in W. A. Craigie Maitland Folio MS (1919) I. 178 Sum said þat þai wer merkat folk Sum said the quene of may wes cumit.
1613 F. Beaumont Knight of Burning Pestle v. sig. K3 I..by all men chosen was Lord of the May.
1673 J. Dryden Marriage a-la-Mode ii. i. 28 Then I was made the Lady of the May.
1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 80. ⁋2 The Girls preceded their parents like Queens of May, in all the gaudy Colours imaginable, on every Sunday to Church.
1727 W. Somerville Yeoman of Kent 32 At Whitson-ales king of the May..He tript it on each holyday.
1812 M. M. Sherwood Susan Gray (new ed.) 80 Why, Susan, you look as handsome as the queen of May in that hat.
1832 Ld. Tennyson May Queen i, in Poems (new ed.) 90 For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.
1880 A. J. Munby Dorothy iii. 66 Cleanly and sweet as she was, fit to be Queen of the May.
1948 E. Crozier Albert Herring (libretto) ii. i Has anyone heard of a King of the May?
1980 P. G. Winslow Counsellor Heart 8 What am I supposed to be?.. Queen of the May?
P3. [Compare Ovid Fasti 5. 489 ‘si te proverbia tangunt, mense malum Maio nubere volgus ait’.] Proverb. marry in May, rue for aye and variants.ne'er cast a clout till May be out: see clout n.1 4b.
ΚΠ
1675 W. Winstanley Poor Robin sig. B The Proverb saies..Of all the Moneths 'tis worst to Wed in May.
1821 J. Galt Ann. Parish vi. 66 We were married on the 29th day of April..on account of the dread that we had of being married in May, for it is said, ‘Of the marriages in May, The bairns die of a decay.’]
1879 W. Henderson Notes Folk-lore Northern Counties (rev. ed.) i. 34 The ancient proverb still lives on the lips of the people of Scotland and the Borders—Marry in May, Rue for Aye.
1913 E. M. Wright Rustic Speech & Folk-lore xiii. 218 Marry in May, You'll rue it for aye, is a Devonshire saying.
1936 C. Sandburg People, Yes 123 Marry in May, repent always. May is the month to marry bad wives.
1981 Observer Mag. 28 June 27 On weddings and engagements we are told that May is an unlucky month for getting married, ‘Marry in May, rue for aye.’
P4. Specific uses of particular dates in May.
a.
May (the) Fourth n. (also 4 May, etc.) Chinese History (attributive) designating or relating to a demonstration held by students in Peking (Beijing) on 4 May 1919 to protest against the Chinese government's failure to oppose the decision by the Versailles Peace Committee to allocate Germany's former possessions in China to Japan; (also) designating the wider cultural and intellectual revolution in China for which this demonstration is generally regarded as having been a catalyst; esp. in May (the) Fourth Movement.
ΚΠ
1930 J. Chi-Hung Lynn Polit. Parties in China vii. 105 The May 4th incident was only an upshot of the great popular movement, the influence of which is felt even to-day.
1938 Pacific Affairs 11 314 Because of the strong development of capitalism in China during the World War, the bourgeois May Fourth Movement was possible in 1919.
1949 Far Eastern Q. 8 154 The introduction of scientific methods of historical research, especially after the May 4th movement in 1919.
1989 J. Hunter Emergence Mod. Japan (1992) 54 The 1919 Versailles Conference decision to award Shandong to Japan sparked off the nationalist eruption of the 4 May Movement in Beijing.
1994 Pacific Affairs 67 444 Tu provides correctives to both the May 4th view of Confucianism as a purely secular humanism and the somewhat related Weberian misunderstanding of it as this-worldly accommodationism.
b.
May (the) Seventh n. (attributive) designating any of various institutions in the People's Republic of China in which study is combined with agricultural or other physical labour, so that cadres may experience the lifestyle of a peasant.Such institutions were founded in accordance with Mao Zedong's directive of 7 May 1966 that called upon people of all trades and professions to study industry, agriculture, and military affairs.
ΚΠ
1967 Peking Rev. 17 Nov. 9/2 It is proposed to transform Tongji University into the ‘May 7th’ Commune... The ‘May 7th’ Commune will abolish existing departments... The ‘May 7th’ Commune will set up political work departments.
1978 China Now July 7/3 The general call for study is combined with a directive to reopen the Party schools for studying Marxism-Leninism, to make sure the May 7th Cadre schools are run well and to study and summarise Party history.
1986 C. Dietrich People's China vi. 200 ‘May 7 Cadre Schools’ began to be established all over the country. These were special farms set up, manned, and run by cadres of all ranks, assigned in groups for six-months to three years.
Compounds
C1.
a. (In sense 1.)
(a) † May-sele n. Obsolete
May evening n.
ΚΠ
1794 in Catal. Prints: Polit. & Personal Satires (Brit. Mus.) (1942) VII. 93 May Evening Sports.
1836 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers (1837) v. 50 Although it was a May evening, their attachment to the wood fire appeared as cordial as if it were Christmas.
1988 M. Drabble Radiant Way 61 It was she herself that had seduced Cliff, in a field of cow parsley on a May evening.
May-hope n.
ΚΠ
a1889 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 38 May-hope of our darkened ways!
May-mess n.
ΚΠ
1877 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 67 Look, look: a May-mess, like on orchard boughs!
May month n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > age > prime > [noun]
flowering agec1400
pridec1475
blooming-time1495
flower?1507
season?1507
day1546
flourishing years?1555
golden years1559
vigour1563
consistent age1574
prime1574
May moon1576
acme1579
Maya1586
flourish1597
May month1600
consistencea1613
May morna1616
constant age1620
high daya1625
blouth1643
flourishing age1737
heyday1751
floruit1843
bloom-hour1850
blossom-time1860
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) III. 1119 Lyke as May moneth flowryth and floryshyth in every mannes gardyne.
1600 S. Nicholson Acolastus his After-witte sig. B1v In the May moneth of my blooming yeares.
1736 H. Fielding Tumble-down Dick Ded. sig. Aiiv A play judiciously brought on by you in the May-Month.
1887 T. Hardy Woodlanders III. iv. 295 The time of year..was just that transient period in the May month when beech trees have suddenly unfolded large limp young leaves.
1982 in Dict. S. Afr. Eng. (1987) 227/2 I'm glad you came now. May month is always our most beautiful.
May moon n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > age > prime > [noun]
flowering agec1400
pridec1475
blooming-time1495
flower?1507
season?1507
day1546
flourishing years?1555
golden years1559
vigour1563
consistent age1574
prime1574
May moon1576
acme1579
Maya1586
flourish1597
May month1600
consistencea1613
May morna1616
constant age1620
high daya1625
blouth1643
flourishing age1737
heyday1751
floruit1843
bloom-hour1850
blossom-time1860
1576 G. Gascoigne Steele Glas Ep. Ded. sig. A.ijv In the Maymoone of my youth.
1812 T. Moore Young May Moon in Irish Melodies III. v. 18 The young May moon is beaming, love.
1948 W. C. Williams Paterson II. §iii. Alone, watching the May moon above the Trees.
May morn n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > age > prime > [noun]
flowering agec1400
pridec1475
blooming-time1495
flower?1507
season?1507
day1546
flourishing years?1555
golden years1559
vigour1563
consistent age1574
prime1574
May moon1576
acme1579
Maya1586
flourish1597
May month1600
consistencea1613
May morna1616
constant age1620
high daya1625
blouth1643
flourishing age1737
heyday1751
floruit1843
bloom-hour1850
blossom-time1860
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry V (1623) i. ii. 120 My thrice-puissant Liege Is in the very May-Morne of his Youth. View more context for this quotation
1832–53 Whistle-Binkie 3rd Ser. (Sc. Songs) 73 Last Sunday, in your faither's dais, I saw thy bloomin' May-morn face.
1878 R. Browning Poets Croisic xv On May-morns, that primeval rite Of temple-building..lingers.
1922 E. Blunden Shepherd 26 And petal-tambourines shall earn A largess this May morn.
May night n.
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1611 G. Chapman May-day iv. 65 That will be at the May night shew at Signior Honorios.
1873 R. Browning Red Cotton Night-cap Country ii. 71 Glisteningly beneath the May-night moon.
1990 R. Graham God's Dominion vii. 183 Siddhartha Gautama sat one May night beneath a peepul tree.
May season n.
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a1513 W. Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen in Poems (1998) I. 41 Grein..as the gres that grew in May sessoun.
1901 G. Barlow To Women of Eng. 63 Sweetness of the bright May season.
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?c1450 in Anglia (1896) 18 317 Ȝif it be gaderid in may-sel.
May-time n.
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a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) 823 (MED) Alle freliche foules..for merþe of þat may time þei made moche noyce.
1633 P. Fletcher Purple Island xii. lxxxii. 179 More fruitfull then the May-time Geminies.
1807 W. Wordsworth Poems I. 14 But all things else about her drawn From May-time and the chearful Dawn.
1930 T. S. Eliot Ash-Wednesday 14 The broadbacked figure..Enchanted the maytime with an antique flute.
1996 F. Chappell Farewell I'm bound to leave You (1997) 129 The illicit loving pair had kept their secret appointment and planned to meet again in the shining Maytime.
(b)
May-born adj.
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1773 R. Fergusson Poem to Memory J. Cunningham 5 The May-born Flourets of Spring.
1869 W. Davies Songs of Wayfarer No. 164 Clear memories and lofty hopes that bless, Like odours May-born breezes leave behind.
May-glad adj.
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1911 E. Pound Canzoni 4 No poppy in the May-glad mead.
May-yeaned adj.
ΚΠ
1884 Cent. Mag. Feb. 518 In June, when the May-yeaned lambs were skipping in the sunshine.
b. (In sense 2b, esp. designating objects and events forming part of traditional May Day celebrations.)† May ale n. Obsolete† May fool n. Obsolete rare† May gad n. Obsolete (see gad n.1 9.)† May-house n. Obsolete rare
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1492–3 Rec. St. Michael's, Bishop's Stortford (Hertfordshire Archives: DP/21/5/1) f. 7 May Ales.
1497–8 in W. I. Haward & H. M. Duncan Village Life in 15th Cent. (1928) 67 In losse off evyll money taken at the may ale.
1516 in J. L. Glasscock Rec. St. Michael's, Bishop's Stortford (1882) 35 Item resseyvyd of the may ale above all charge ls.
May feast n.
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1778 W. Hutchinson Anc. Customs 14, in View Northumberland II The syllabub, prepared for the May feast.
1870 Appletons' Jrnl. 12 Mar. 297/2 It was an old custom in Northumberland to have a syllabub for the May Feast.
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a1591 H. Smith Serm. (1594) 394 May-games, and May poales, and May fooles, and Morris-dancers are vanitie.
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1724 W. Stukeley Itinerarium Curiosum I. 29 Making a procession to this hill with may gads (as they call them) in their hands, this is a white willow wand the bark peel'd off, ty'd round with cowslips.
1848 E. Bulwer-Lytton Harold I. i. i. 4 Boys, with their May-gads (peeled willow wands twined with cowslips).
May-garland n.
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1784 in Catal. Prints: Polit. & Personal Satires (Brit. Mus.) (1938) VI. 139 (caption) The May garland or triumph without victory.
1822 W. Wordsworth Eccl. Sketches iii. xx. 100 Shepherds sate of yore and wove May-garlands.
1959 I. Opie & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolchildren xii. 258 The traditional custom of shouldering little maypoles round the streets or visiting houses with may-garlands is still practised in some districts.
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1824 M. R. Mitford Our Village I. 89 From the trunk of the chestnut the May-houses commence. They are covered alleys built of green boughs, decorated with garlands and great bunches of flowers..hanging down like chandeliers among the dancers.
May-keeper n. rare
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1904 Edinb. Rev. Jan. 55 Other May-keepers whose symbols are now but relics.
c. (In sense 3.)† may-busket n. Obsolete
may-bloom n.
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1818 H. J. Todd Johnson's Dict. Eng. Lang. May-bloom, the hawthorn.
1901 G. Barlow To Women of Eng. 104 When silvery may-bloom glistens Is there one whitethorn leaf Sun-kissed and glad which listens To the cold song of grief?
may-bough n.
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1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 666/1 In stede of a trapper he pricked his horse full of maye bowes.
1716 T. Purney Pastorals after Theocritus i. 26 This Morn sweet sate we 'neath this sweet May-bough.
1902 W. Canton Comrades 155 When may-boughs cream in curdling white, And maids envy the bloom o' the apple.
may-branch n.
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the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > thorny berry-bush > [noun] > hawthorn and allies
hawthorna700
hawthorn-treec1290
whitethorna1300
haw-treec1325
albespyne?a1425
thorn-tree1483
mespilus1548
may-branch1560
quickthorn1571
hedge-bush1576
busket1579
May-bush1579
Neapolitan medlar1597
azarole1658
pyracanth1664
white bush1676
Glastonbury thorna1697
quick1727
evergreen thorn1731
blackthorn1737
whitethorn1788
oriental medlar1797
haw1821
May-haw1840
Maythorn1844
May1848
pear thorn1848
pink thorn1852
aronia thorn1882
scarlet thorn1882
black haw1897
society > leisure > social event > festive occasion > specific festivities > [noun] > festivities associated with May-day > branch
May1432
may-branch1560
May-bush1579
1560 in J. T. B. Syme Sowerby's Eng. Bot. (1864) III. 240 Those boys who choose it may rise at four oclock to gather May branches.
1823 in W. Hone Every-day Bk. (1826) I. 565 On May morning..the girls look with some anxiety for their May-branch.
ΚΠ
1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. May 10 To gather may bus-kets and smelling brere.
1791 T. Warton in J. Milton Poems (ed. 2) 181 Spenser has anglicised the original French word bosquet, in May, v. 10 ‘To gather May buskets and smelling breere’. If busket be not there the French bouquet, now become English.
may-leaf n.
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1844 E. B. Barrett Poems II. 109 There fell Two white may-leaves..From a blossom.
1891 F. Tennyson Daphne 326 Thro' smooth walks Under the rustling May-leaves.
d. † May bishop n. depreciative Obsolete rare a titular bishop.† May King n. now historical Obsolete = King of the May n. at Phrases 2.† May Marian n. [probably alteration of Maid Marian n. by association with May game n.; perhaps compare may n.3] Obsolete = Maid Marian n. a.† May-roll v. Obsolete rare (transitive) to roll (a person) in the grass as a game in May-time.† May skin n. Obsolete (perhaps) the skin of a lamb or sheep slaughtered in May.† May wool n. Obsolete rare (probably) wool taken from a sheep in May.
May ball n. a ball or similar entertainment held in May or (at the University of Cambridge) during May Week.
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1839 Southern Literary Messenger June 411/2 In the afternoon the little corpse was brought in, dressed up more like a living subject for a May ball, than a tenant for the grave.
1955 Queen 29 June 21/2 (caption) May Ball. The First and Third Trinity's Boat Club Ball held in Trinity College, Cambridge.
1988 M. Drabble Radiant Way (BNC) 74 Alix herself had been to a May Ball or two in Cambridge, in her dancing days.
May-basket n. U.S. a small basket, traditionally filled with flowers, confectionery, etc., and hung or left at the door of a loved one or friend on May Day as a token of affection.
ΚΠ
1842 S. Rodman Diary (1927) 235 The little girls for the last two days have had the pleasant excitement attending the giving and receiving May baskets of flowers.
1918 W. Cather My Ántonia ii. xiii. 260 I remember I took a melancholy pleasure in hanging a May-basket for Nina Harling that spring.
1977 T. Tudor Time to Keep 24 On May Day the children left May baskets at our neighbors' doors.
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society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > clerical superior > bishop > kinds of bishop > [noun] > titular
May bishop1565
tulchana1578
titular bishop1597
1565 J. Jewel Def. Apol. Churche Eng. (1611) 585 Your late Chapter of Trident, with your worthie number of forty Prelates, whereof certaine were onlie May Bishops, otherwise by you called Nullatenses.
May bowl n. [after German Maibowle] = Maitrank n.
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1951 Good Housek. Home Encycl. 549/1 May Bowl, a type of white wine cup, of German origin, also called May drink and May wine.
1965 O. A. Mendelsohn Dict. Drink 215 Maybowl, a festive compound of sweetened and flavoured wine, popular with continental students.
May drink n. [after German Maitrank Maitrank n.] = Maitrank n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > wine > drinks made with wine > [noun] > wine flavoured with herbs
sage wine1597
purl royal1675
cool tankard1688
cool cup1775
May drink1851
Maitrank1858
May wine1890
May bowl1951
1851 H. W. Longfellow Golden Legend i. 37 Fill me a goblet of May-drink, As aromatic as the May From which it steals the breath away.
1855 E. Acton Mod. Cookery (rev. ed.) xxxii. 620 Mai Trank (May-Drink). (German.) Put into a large deep jug one pint of light white wine to two of red,..then throw in some..woodruff.
1991 She May 141/2 Mrs Beeton's May Drink is a refreshing drink for grown-ups with herb gardens—or a good local herb shop.
May Eve n. the day or evening before May Day.
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1603 G. Owen Descr. Penbrokshire (1892) 191 At vsuall feastes that ys the one on our ladie Eve in March, the other at Maye Eve.
1649 Ld. Herbert Life Henry VIII 68 Two Apprentices playing onely at Buckerels in the street late on May-eve.
a1722 J. Toland Coll. Several Pieces (1726) I. 67 On May-eve the Druids made prodigious fires on those Carns.
1825 T. C. Croker Fairy Legends & Trad. S. Ireland I. 307 May-eve is considered a time of peculiar danger.
1898 Longman's Mag. Apr. 547 A bunch of birch twigs..are put up on May Eve ‘to keep off the witches’.
1996 R. Mabey Flora Britannica 40/2 In the Isle of Man..flowers were strewn on doorsteps on old May Eve.
May examination n. a university examination taken in May; spec. = sense 4a (now historical).
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1848 Southern Literary Messenger Aug. 481/2 All things promised well for my graduating creditably at the approaching May examination.
1859 F. W. Farrar Julian Home xv. 186 My getting a first class in the May examination.
May hill n. [possibly with allusion to May Hill as a local name, widespread in England] now poetic and British regional the month of May regarded as a potential time of crisis for those in ill health; esp. in to have climbed May hill.
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the world > life > source or principle of life > continuance or tenacity of life > continue in life [verb (intransitive)] > live through most risky part of year healthwise
to have climbed May hill1619
1619 J. Chamberlain Let. 2 Jan. (1939) II. 197 We cannot be out of feare till we see her past the top of May-hill.
a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Derb. 230 Whereas, in our remembrance, Ale went out when Swallows came in..it now hopeth (having climed up May Hill) to continue its course all the year.
1887 W. D. Parish & W. F. Shaw Dict. Kentish Dial. 99 ‘I don't think he'll ever get up May hill,’ i.e., I don't think he will live through the month of May.
1917 E. W. Wilcox Over May Hill in Coll. Poems I. 311 Day by day nearing and nearing..Cometh the shape and the shadow I'm fearing, ‘Over the May hill’ is waiting your tomb.
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society > leisure > social event > festive occasion > persons and characters > [noun] > presiding > at May-day festivities
Queen of the May1506
May King1519
May-lady1564
May-lord1576
Lord (also King) of (the) May1577
May Queen1600
1519 W. Horman Vulgaria xxxii. f. 279v It is the custome, that euery yere, we shal haue a may kynge.
1646 J. Gregory Notes & Observ. x. 47 To bear the Alytarcha's part and be a May-King, or Mock-Iupiter in these Revels.
1948 E. Crozier Albert Herring (libretto) ii. i May King! That'll teach the girls a lesson!
May kitten n. a kitten born in May, regarded as being sickly or unlucky; also in extended use.
ΚΠ
1690 J. Dryden Amphitryon iii. 33 Blear-ey'd, like a May-Kitten.
1853 Notes & Queries 12 Feb. 152/2 You should drown a May-kitten. It's unlucky to keep it.
1957 Folk-lore Sept. 413 May-born babies, like May kittens, are said to be weakly and unlikely to thrive.
1986 in I. Opie & M. Tatem Dict. Superstitions (1989) 241 [South Shields, Co. Durham] I used to be quite upset as a child when people said to me, when they heard that my birthday was in May, ‘Oh, you're a May kitten—you should have been drowned!’
May long n. Canadian colloquial the long weekend preceding and including Victoria Day, a public holiday observed in Canada on the penultimate Monday in May; cf. May two-four n. [Shortened < May long weekend < May n.2 + long weekend n. at long adj.1 and n.1 Compounds 4a.]
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society > leisure > [noun] > a period of > weekend > specific
Labour Weekend1948
May two-four1991
May long1999
1999 alt.drunken.bastards 21 May (Usenet newsgroup, accessed 17 April 2020) As for ‘Victoria Day’, in this part o' Canada, we simply call it ‘The May Long’. The word ‘Weekend’ has even been dropped.
2019 @andieshaw 21 May in twitter.com (accessed 24 Mar. 2020) Even though I worked for 2 out of the 3 days, the weather was perfect for May long.
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society > leisure > social event > festive occasion > persons and characters > [noun] > characters in May-day festivities
May-lady1564
savage mana1577
green man1578
May Marian1582
May Queen1600
malkina1625
Jack o' the green1729
Jack-in-the-bush1792
Jack in the green1794
May Day sweep1832
green1836
Maid Marian1893
1582 C. Fetherston Dialogue agaynst Dauncing sig. D7 In your maygames..you doe vse to attyre men in womans apparrell, whom you doe most commenly call maymarrions.
May meeting n. now historical each of a succession of annual meetings of various religious and philanthropic societies formerly held during the month of May in Exeter Hall, London, and at other venues.
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1852 G. A. Sala in Househ. Words 19 June 312/1 May-meetings of bees, humming and buzzing.
1874 H. W. Longfellow Tales Wayside Inn (compl. ed.) 247 Dost thou remember, Hannah, the great May-Meeting in London, When I was still a child, how we sat in the silent assembly, Waiting upon the Lord in patient and passive submission?
1895 Dict. National Biogr. XLII. 228/2 She visited London every year for the May meetings.
May morning n. a morning in May; spec. the morning of May Day.
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c1400 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Trin. Cambr. R.3.14) (1960) A. Prol. 5 On a may morwenyng vpon maluerne hilles.
1531 in D. Knowles Saints & Scholars (1962) xx. 157 Rewards to them that singeth on maye mornyng men and women at grymley..3s.
a1540 (c1460) G. Hay tr. Bk. King Alexander 87 Traist scho till him maid To mete hir airly in ane May morning.
1567 Compend. Bk. Godly Songs (1897) 137 In till ane myrthfull Maij morning.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) iii. iv. 140 More matter for a May morning . View more context for this quotation
1812 W. Tennant Anster Fair ii. xxi. 34 Lasses..Gay as May-morning, tidy, gim, and clean.
1925 E. Blunden Eng. Poems 88 And touch them into truth again May-morning bright.
1977 R. Dahl Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar 104 The lake was beautiful on this golden May morning.
May races n. (at Cambridge University) intercollegiate rowing races held in the Easter term.
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1868 G. L. Tottenham Charlie Villars at Cambr. II. xxix. 249 Many men have loitered about, and bathed, or strolled,..or played tennis, and the interest of the University has been carried nearly to the end of the May races.
1893 in Cambr. Univ. Almanack (1894) 209 During the Lent or May Races.
1971 Amer. Math. Monthly 78 236 As soon as the last papers were handed in, [we] rushed from the hall and walked as fast as we knew how the three miles down to the river where the first of the May races were due to begin.
2000 J. Durack et al. Bumps Introd. 4 The present system was adopted in 1887 when the Lent and May races became entirely distinct, each being raced over four days.
ΚΠ
1656 R. Fletcher Poems in Ex Otio Negotium 210 The game at best, the girls May rould must bee.
ΚΠ
1497 A. Halyburton Ledger (1867) 46 Item..a sek off May skynis contenand 300.
1534–5 in J. T. Fowler Extracts Acct. Rolls Abbey of Durham (1898) I. 109 Pro xj may skynnes.
1676 Kirkcudbright Town Council Rec. 12 Jan. in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue (at cited word) For fyve may skins.
May term n. (at Cambridge University) the term after Easter; the Easter term.
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1889 Granta 24 May 2/1 A mother..is gratefully received at Cambridge in the May term.
1905 Cambr. Rev. 4 May 281/1 The May term is seldom a good time for serious concerts.
1954 Mind 63 2 Ramsey states that he had been in close touch with Wittgenstein's work..during the Lent and May terms of 1929.
May tree n. †(a) a maypole (obsolete); (b) a hawthorn.
ΚΠ
1583 Minute Bk. Dedham Classis 6 May in R. G. Usher Presbyterian Movement Reign of Q. Elizabeth (1905) 29 Mr Lewis and Mr Dowe were appointed to deale wth Mr James to staie the playes of Maietree.
1841 T. Moore Poet. Wks. V. 101 Sweet as a May tree's scented air.
1984 J. Frame Angel at my Table (1987) vi. 52 Facing an eastern hill, with the north boundary of hawthorn hedge, may trees, willow trees, [the house] had only brief sun in the morning.
May two-four n. Canadian colloquial the long weekend preceding and including Victoria Day, a public holiday observed in Canada on the penultimate Monday in May; also more fully May two-four weekend; cf. May long n. [Punningly < May n.2 + two-four n. at two adj., n., and adv. Additions, to suggest that beer is heavily consumed on this public holiday, which originally fell on May 24, the birthday of Queen Victoria (compare Victoria Day n. at Victoria n.2 Compounds 1).]
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society > leisure > [noun] > a period of > weekend > specific
Labour Weekend1948
May two-four1991
May long1999
1991 Kitchener-Waterloo (Ont.) Rec. 21 May 1/5 The May ‘two-four weekend’, named after the traditional camper's case of 24 beer, lived up to its name this year in cottage country.
2019 @lexmark66 18 May in twitter.com (accessed 22 Apr. 2020) Happy May two four! Have a great weekend.
May Week n. (at Cambridge University) the week in late May or early June in which the May races are held.
ΚΠ
1895 Cassell's Family Mag. June 518 So many visitors are attracted to Cambridge for the ‘May week’.
1983 M. Cox M. R. James vi. 64 The succeeding summer term brought Monty's first May Week at Cambridge.
May wine n. [after German Maiwein] = Maitrank n.
ΚΠ
1890 E. Field Little Bk. Western Verse 140 I've pipes of Malmsey, May-wine, sack, metheglon, mead, and sherry.
1967 A. Lichine Encycl. Wines & Spirits 346/2 May wine is served chilled and ladled from a bowl, usually with strawberries or other fruit floating in it.
1989 L. Deighton Spy Line vi. 79 Come straight back. No sightseeing tours on the blue Danube, or tasting the May wine at the heuriger houses in Grinzing.
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1720 J. Strype Stow's Surv. of London (rev. ed.) II. v. xv. 238/2 Fallen May-Wool, rotten and other ill Wool.
C2. In the names of plants and fruits.† May-fern n. Obsolete a kind of fern, probably moonwort Botrychium lunaria; cf. May grapes n.† May grapes n. Obsolete rare common moonwort, Botrychium lunaria.
May-bean n. an early-ripening variety of broad bean.
ΚΠ
1802 Eng. Encycl. IV. 473/1 The May-beans are a larger sort of ticks, and somewhat earlier ripe.
May-blob n. [compare mareblob n., moll-blob n.] chiefly British regional the marsh marigold, Caltha palustris; (also) any of several other spring-flowering plants.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > buttercup and allied flowers > marsh marigold
kingcup1538
petty nenuphar1548
bassinet1578
brave celandine1578
marsh marigold1578
boots1597
caltha1599
mareblob1649
water boot1665
horse-blob1821
water-blob1821
molly-blob1854
May-blob1863
drunkard1886
1863 Phytologist New Ser. 6 416 The Caltha palustris is called ‘May~blobs’ by the children who gather the flower in the meadows near Warwick; they also call the Wood Anemone (A. nemorosa) ‘Granny's Nightcap’.
1881 S. Evans Evans's Leicestershire Words (new ed.) 192 May-blob, the marsh-marigold.
1903 Eng. Dial. Dict. IV. 62/2 May-blob..(b) the cuckoo-flower, Cardamine pratensis; (c) the globe-flower, Trollius europaeus; (d) the celery-leaved crowfoot, Ranunculus sceleratus.
1908 Pacific Monthly 20 94/2 Could they or their children after them pick out a May-blob from a May-pop?
1916 D. H. Lawrence Amores 38 I can smell the gorgeous bog-end, in its breathless Dazzle of may-blobs.
1960 S. Ary & M. Gregory Oxf. Bk. Wild Flowers 4/2 Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris)... The plant has many other names such as Kingcup and May Blobs.
May-cherry n. (a) a small, early kind of cherry; (b) U.S. any of various shrubs of the genus Amelanchier (family Rosaceae); cf. Juneberry n. at June n. Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > fruit or a fruit > stone fruit > [noun] > cherry > types of
black cherry1530
geana1533
Plinian1577
cherrylet1605
agriot1611
morel1611
cœur-cherry1626
bigarreau1629
May-cherry1629
morello1629
duracine1655
black heart1664
duke1664
red-hearta1678
prince royal1686
May duke1718
ox-heart1731
sand cherry1778
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > stone fruit > cherry > types of cherry
black cherry1530
geana1533
Plinian1577
mazzard1578
mazardc1595
merry1595
Flanders cherry1597
heart cherry1599
cherrylet1605
agriot1611
morel1611
cœur-cherry1626
bigarreau1629
May-cherry1629
morello1629
urinal cherry1629
white-heart cherry1629
duracine1655
heart1658
black heart1664
carnation1664
duke1664
honey cherrya1671
nonsuch1674
merise1675
red-hearta1678
prince royal1686
lukeward1707
white-heart1707
May duke1718
Royal Ann1724
ox-heart1731
ratafia1777
choke-cherry1785
mountain cherry1811
rum cherry1818
sour cherry1884
Napoleon1886
Napoleon cherry1933
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > edible berries > June-berry
poire1801
Juneberry1810
May-cherry1832
shad-berry1861
1629 J. Parkinson Paradisi in Sole iii. xii. 571 The May Cherrie in a standard beareth ripe fruite later then planted against a wall.
1664 J. Evelyn Kalendarium Hortense 66 in Sylva The May-Cherry.
1713 J. Addison in Guardian 2 July 2/1 To Zelinda two Sticks of May Cherries.
1718 J. Laurence Fruit-garden Kal. 78 The little early May-Cherry is indeed worth nothing.
1832 L. Hunt Sir Ralph Esher I. xi. 261 The finest apples and pears, strawberries, and May-cherries.
1884 C. S. Sargent Rep. Forests N. Amer. (10th Census IX) 84 Amelanchier Canadensis... May Cherry.
1901 A. Lounsberry Southern Wild Flowers & Trees 249 A. Canadensis... May-cherry... Those that find it eat it as regularly as they would cherries.
1952 R. L. Taylor Plants Colonial Days 75 Common names are Juneberry, shadblow, and May cherry.
ΚΠ
1658 tr. S. de Cyrano de Bergerac Satyrical Characters xii. 41 A girdle of May~fearne [Fr. fougere de May] woven in tresses.
1816 W. Scott Antiquary II. viii. 226 You have used neither charm,..magic mirror, nor geomantic figure. Where be..your May-fearn, your vervain?
May gowan n. Scottish rare the common daisy, Bellis perennis.
ΚΠ
1842 Hist. Berwickshire Naturalists' Club 2 19 (note) Ye'll get round again, if ye had your fit (foot) on the May gowan.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > ferns > [noun] > moonwort
lunaryc1386
moonworta1425
May grapes1548
unshoe-the-horse1635
moon-fern1659
rattlesnake fern1814
1548 W. Turner Names of Herbes sig. H.iij Lunaria minor, which may be called in englishe litle Lunary or Maye Grapes, the duch cal this herbe..meydruuen.
May grass n. a grass which flowers or is in its prime in May; (also) a West Indian grass (not identified).
ΚΠ
1830 J. D. Maycock Flora Barbadensis 61 Broad-leaved Panic Grass. Miller. May Grass.
1874 Ladies' Repository May 390 The slender May-grass holds conversation with the orchard-grass.
1999 Church Times 4 June 32/5 We wander to Walberswick churchyard to find a friend's dust among the May grasses and bull-daisies.
May-haw n. a hawthorn of southern North America, Crataegus aestivalis; the edible fruit of this tree; (also) the related C. opaca or its fruit.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > thorny berry-bush > [noun] > hawthorn and allies
hawthorna700
hawthorn-treec1290
whitethorna1300
haw-treec1325
albespyne?a1425
thorn-tree1483
mespilus1548
may-branch1560
quickthorn1571
hedge-bush1576
busket1579
May-bush1579
Neapolitan medlar1597
azarole1658
pyracanth1664
white bush1676
Glastonbury thorna1697
quick1727
evergreen thorn1731
blackthorn1737
whitethorn1788
oriental medlar1797
haw1821
May-haw1840
Maythorn1844
May1848
pear thorn1848
pink thorn1852
aronia thorn1882
scarlet thorn1882
black haw1897
1840 J. Torrey & A. Gray Flora N. Amer. I. iii. 468 C. æstivalis... The fruit..is much esteemed for making tarts, jellies, &c.—May Haw. Apple-Haw.
1868 Amer. Naturalist 2 468 They [sc. deer] visit the ponds in which the May~haw grows, the fruit of which is juicy with the flavor of the apple.
1938 M. K. Rawlings Yearling xi. 112 He concentrated on light bread and mayhaw jelly.
1960 R. A. Vines Trees, Shrubs, & Woody Vines Southwest 338 May Hawthorn... This [sc.Crataegus opaca] is the famous May Haw of the South, from which preserves are made.
1990 M. L. Hall Apple-Green Triumph 6 I make fig and mayhaw preserves and green tomato pickles.
May lily n. (a) lily of the valley, Convallaria majalis (now rare); (b) a Eurasian woodland plant, Maianthemum bifolium (family Convallariaceae), related to and resembling lily of the valley.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > lily and allied flowers > lily of the valley
great park lily1538
May lily1548
lily of the valley1563
wood lily1563
liriconfancy1567
May blossoms1578
lily convally1597
valley-lily1597
wood-lily1597
lily-bell1729
vale-lily1823
lily cup1826
mugget1866
1548 W. Turner Names of Herbes sig. C.viij The Poticaries in Germany do name it Lilium conuallium, it maye be called in englishe May Lilies.
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 331 Of Lilly in the valley, or May Lillie.
1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 319 May Lily, Convallaria.
1832 W. D. Williamson Hist. Maine I. 125 [We have] two varieties of meadow-lilies,..May-lily, or ‘lily of the valley’; and nodding-lily.
1945 R. S. R. Fitter London's Nat. Hist. ix. 147 The most famous of all the plants of Hampstead Heath, the may-lily (Maianthemum bifolium)..became extinct, allegedly owing to careless path-making.
1971 Watsonia 8 295 It is strange that such a conspicuous plant as the May Lily was not recorded for Norfolk until 1955.
May rose n. (a) a rose flowering in May; †(b) the guelder rose, Viburnum opulus (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > viburnums or guelder rose and allies > [noun]
bendwithc1440
opier1548
opulus1548
ople1551
dwarf plane tree1578
water elder1578
whitten1578
guelder rose1597
rose elder1597
wayfaring man's tree1597
wayfaring tree1597
opiet1601
cotton tree1633
viorne1637
mealy tree1640
laurustinus1664
stinking tree1681
black haw1688
laurel-thyme1693
laurustine1693
viburnum1731
wayfaring shrub1731
May rose1753
pembina1760
snowball tree1760
mealtree1785
stink-tree1795
cherry-wood1821
snowball1828
sloe1846
withe-rod1846
lithy-tree1866
nannyberry1867
king's crown1879
stag bush1884
snowball bush1931
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. at Rose The small red rose, commonly called the May rose.
1812 M. M. Sherwood Susan Gray (new ed.) 128 In her hand she had a bunch of May-roses.
1908 M. J. Cawein Poems II. 386 With your eyes of April blue, And your mouth Like a May-rose, fresh with dew.
Maythorn n. a hawthorn. [Earlier currency may be implied by place-name evidence, as e.g. le Mathorne , West Yorkshire (1564; now Maythorn ), May Thorn Bush (field name), Ketton, Rutland (1638, now lost), although it has alternatively been suggested that the former name may rather show maythe n. (compare δ forms at that entry).]
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > thorny berry-bush > [noun] > hawthorn and allies
hawthorna700
hawthorn-treec1290
whitethorna1300
haw-treec1325
albespyne?a1425
thorn-tree1483
mespilus1548
may-branch1560
quickthorn1571
hedge-bush1576
busket1579
May-bush1579
Neapolitan medlar1597
azarole1658
pyracanth1664
white bush1676
Glastonbury thorna1697
quick1727
evergreen thorn1731
blackthorn1737
whitethorn1788
oriental medlar1797
haw1821
May-haw1840
Maythorn1844
May1848
pear thorn1848
pink thorn1852
aronia thorn1882
scarlet thorn1882
black haw1897
1844 E. B. Browning Vision of Poets Concl. 105 I receive The maythorn, and its scent outgive!
1882 C. F. Keary Outl. Primitive Belief 107 Even the maythorn is to be met with.
Maywort n. rare crosswort, Cruciata laevipes.
ΚΠ
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. 725/2 Maywort, Galium cruciatum.
C3. In the names of animals.† May-bee n. Obsolete (a) the cockchafer, Melolontha melolontha; (b) North American a May beetle of the genus Phyllophaga.† May-chafer n. [perhaps after German Maikäfer (formerly also Maienkäfer)] Obsolete the cockchafer, Melolontha melolontha, or the rose chafer, Cetonia aurata; in quot. 1827 figurative.† May-chick n. Obsolete rare = May-bird n. (c).† May-chit n. Obsolete the meadow pipit, Anthus pratensis (cf. chit n.4).† May curlew n. Obsolete rare = May-bird n. (c).† May-fowl n. Obsolete = May-bird n. (c).† May jack n. Obsolete rare = May-bird n. (c).† May parr n. Obsolete rare a young salmon parr which appears in May.† May peal n. Obsolete rare = May parr n.† May skate n. Obsolete the long-nosed skate, Raja oxyrhynchus (cf. mavis skate n.).† May-worm n. Obsolete an oil beetle.
ΚΠ
c1820 M. M. Sherwood May-bee 13 William had caught another may-bee, or cockchafer, or humbuzz (for so that insect is called in different places).
1880 M. A. Courtney W. Cornwall Words in M. A. Courtney & T. Q. Couch Gloss. Words Cornwall 40/2 Oak-web, a May-bee; the cock-chafer.
1899 Mem. Amer. Folk-lore Soc. 7 63 Horn-bugs, May-bees, May-flies, [etc.].
May-beetle n. = May-bug n. (in all senses).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > Polyphaga (omnivorous) > superfamily Lamellicornia Scarabaeoidea > family Scarabaeidae > genus Melolontha > member of (cockchafer)
chaferc1000
kafer1599
cockchafer1668
miller1668
May-bug1688
May-beetle1720
oak-web1720
humbuzz1756
May-chafer1766
dor-beetle1774
locust1790
fern-web1796
melolonthian1841
lamellicorn1842
furze-owl1847
rose beetle1856
melolonthid1928
billywitch1933
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > Polyphaga (omnivorous) > superfamily Lamellicornia Scarabaeoidea > family Scarabaeidae > member of genus Phyllopertha (May-bug)
chovy1784
May-bug1835
May-beetle1842
May-bug1860
bracken-clock1884
1720 E. Albin Nat. Hist. Eng. Insects 60 In the middle of May came forth a brown Beetle called the Chafer, Oak Web, or May Beetle.
1842 T. W. Harris Treat. Insects Injurious to Vegetation (1862) 31 The best time..for shaking the trees on which the May-beetles are lodged, is in the morning.
1860 J. Curtis Farm Insects Index May-bug or beetle—Anisoplia horticola.
1922 People's Home Jrnl. July 38/3 May beetles, click beetles and other harmful beetles are a joy to him.
1973 M. R. Crowell Greener Pastures 200 At the bird bath I find a June bug—the early brown kind known as a May beetle.
May-bird n. †(a) U.S. the dickcissel, Spiza americana (obsolete); (b) U.S. the bobolink, Dolichonyx oryzivorus; (c) the whimbrel, Numenius phaeopus; (d) U.S. the knot, Calidris canutus.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > family Scolopacidae (snipes, etc.) > [noun] > member of genus Numenius (miscellaneous) > numenius phaeopus (whimbrel)
spowe1519
whimbrel1530
May-chick1577
jack curlew1770
May-bird1791
tang-whaup1808
May-fowl1852
May jack1880
May curlew1885
crooked-bill marlin1886
1791 W. Bartram Trav. N. & S. Carolina 291 Calandra pratensis, the May bird.
1823 Let. 6 July in J. W. Allston S. Carolina Rice Plantation (1945) 61 The field on the main next to Coachmans was ruined by the may-birds.
1838 J. J. Audubon Ornithol. Biogr. IV. 132 In that country [sc. South Carolina] it is called the ‘May Bird’, which, however, is a name also given to the Rice Bird.
1864 Jrnl. Royal Inst. Cornwall Mar. 18 May-bird, the whimbrel.
a1908 H. C. Hart MS Coll. Ulster Words in M. Traynor Eng. Dial. Donegal (1953) 181 May-bird, the whimbrel.
1917 T. G. Pearson Birds Amer. I. 231/1 Knot. Tringa canutus... [Also called] May-bird.
1940 E. M. Coulter Thomas Spalding of Sapelo 77 Winged destroyers whirled over the fields bent on destruction. These were the ricebirds, sometimes called May birds.
1950 A. W. Boyd Coward's Birds Brit. Isles (rev. ed.) 2nd Ser. 162 ‘May-bird’ is one of its [sc. the Whimbrel's] popular names, for its arrival is expected in this month.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > Polyphaga (omnivorous) > superfamily Lamellicornia Scarabaeoidea > family Scarabaeidae > genus Melolontha > member of (cockchafer)
chaferc1000
kafer1599
cockchafer1668
miller1668
May-bug1688
May-beetle1720
oak-web1720
humbuzz1756
May-chafer1766
dor-beetle1774
locust1790
fern-web1796
melolonthian1841
lamellicorn1842
furze-owl1847
rose beetle1856
melolonthid1928
billywitch1933
1766 M. Harris Aurelian 37 The Rose May-Chaffer.
1827 T. Carlyle tr. J. P. F. Richter in German Romance III. 132 Your idle May-chafers and Court-celestials.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > family Scolopacidae (snipes, etc.) > [noun] > member of genus Numenius (miscellaneous) > numenius phaeopus (whimbrel)
spowe1519
whimbrel1530
May-chick1577
jack curlew1770
May-bird1791
tang-whaup1808
May-fowl1852
May jack1880
May curlew1885
crooked-bill marlin1886
1577 Exp. Entert. Gorhambury in J. Nichols Progresses Queen Elizabeth (1823) II. 57 Quails..Maychicks..Malards.
ΚΠ
1610 W. Folkingham Feudigraphia iv. iii. 83 May-Chit, Spawe, Churre, Peeper.
c1668 Sir T. Browne Wks. (1852) III. 507 The..May chit is a little dark grey bird.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > family Scolopacidae (snipes, etc.) > [noun] > member of genus Numenius (miscellaneous) > numenius phaeopus (whimbrel)
spowe1519
whimbrel1530
May-chick1577
jack curlew1770
May-bird1791
tang-whaup1808
May-fowl1852
May jack1880
May curlew1885
crooked-bill marlin1886
1885 C. Swainson Provinc. Names Brit. Birds 200 Whimbrel... May curlew..(Ireland).
May fish n. †(a) the twaite shad, Alosa fallax (obsolete); (b) U.S. the striped killifish, Fundulus majalis.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > order Atheriniformes > [noun] > member of family Cyprinodontidae > member of genus Fundulus
mummichog1787
swampine1835
killifish1836
May fish1836
studfish1874
sac-à-lait1884
starhead1920
the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > subclass Actinopterygii > order Clupeiformes > [noun] > family Clupeidae and herrings > member of genus Alosa (shad) > alosa finta (twait shad)
maid1569
twaita1609
maid-fish1665
May fish1836
1836 W. Yarrell Hist. Brit. Fishes II. 133 The Twaite Shad..in consequence of the time of its annual visit to some of the rivers of the European Continent is called the May-fish.
1879 G. B. Goode Catal. Coll. Animal Resources & Fisheries U.S.: Internat. Exhib. 1876 (Bull. U.S. National Mus. No. 14) 56 May-fish. Brackish waters; Cape Ann to Cape Hatteras.
1896 D. S. Jordan & B. W. Evermann Fishes N. & Middle Amer. (Bull. U.S. National Mus. No. 47) i. 639 Killifish; Mayfish; Rockfish.
1903 T. H. Bean Fishes N.Y. 309 The striped killifish, [is] also known as the..mayfish.
1991 Common & Sci. Names Fishes U.S. & Canada (Amer. Fisheries Soc. Special Publ. No. 20) (ed. 5) 149 Mayfish, see striped killifish.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > family Scolopacidae (snipes, etc.) > [noun] > member of genus Numenius (miscellaneous) > numenius phaeopus (whimbrel)
spowe1519
whimbrel1530
May-chick1577
jack curlew1770
May-bird1791
tang-whaup1808
May-fowl1852
May jack1880
May curlew1885
crooked-bill marlin1886
1852 W. Macgillivray Hist. Brit. Birds IV. 253 [Syn.] Whimbrel, Little Curlew..Mayfowl.
1885 C. Swainson Provinc. Names Brit. Birds 200 Because they appear in the month of May..they [sc. whimbrels] have received the names of..May fowl (Ireland).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > family Scolopacidae (snipes, etc.) > [noun] > member of genus Numenius (miscellaneous) > numenius phaeopus (whimbrel)
spowe1519
whimbrel1530
May-chick1577
jack curlew1770
May-bird1791
tang-whaup1808
May-fowl1852
May jack1880
May curlew1885
crooked-bill marlin1886
1880 W. H. Patterson Gloss. Words Antrim & Down 67 May jack, the whimbrel.
ΚΠ
1841 Penny Cycl. XX. 364/1 The smaller summer parrs (called, in Dumfriesshire, May parrs).
ΚΠ
1861 Act 24 & 25 Victoria c. 109 §4 All migratory fish of the genus salmon, whether known by the names..mort, peal, herring peal, may peal, pugg peal, harvest cock,..or by any other local name.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > subclass Elasmobranchii > order Hypotremata > [noun] > family Rajidae > raia oxyrhyncha
mavis skate1811
May skate1811
1811 P. Neill in Mem. Wernerian Nat. Hist. Soc. 1 553 May-skate, or Mavis-skate.
1828 J. Fleming Hist. Brit. Animals 171 Raia oxyrinchus. Sharp-nosed Ray... White Skate, Friar Skate, May Skate.
May sucker n. U.S. the harelip sucker, Lagochila lacera.
ΚΠ
1878 Bull. U.S. National Mus. No. 12. 68 We have lately received a fine specimen taken in the Scioto River, Ohio,..where it is well known to the fishermen under the name of ‘May Sucker’.
1884 D. S. Jordan in G. B. Goode et al. Fisheries U.S.: Sect. I 614 The ‘Rabbit-mouth’, ‘Hare-lip’,..or ‘May Sucker’ is found in abundance in many rivers of Tennessee and..Ohio.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > Polyphaga (omnivorous) > superfamily Heteromera > family Meloidae > genus or member of genus Meloe
meloe1650
May-worm1658
oil beetle1658
oil-clock1658
proscarab1668
1658 J. Rowland tr. T. Moffett Theater of Insects in Topsell's Hist. Four-footed Beasts (rev. ed.) 1017 They hang the May-worm (for so he cals the Oyl-beetle) about the neck with a thred, especially in the moneth of May.
1778 Farmer's Mag. Feb. 61 The May-Worm is an insect which Linnæus classes with the coleopteres.
Derivatives
ΚΠ
1589 E. Hayes in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations iii. 684 Moris dancers, Hobby horsse, and Maylike conceits.
1592 T. Lodge Euphues Shadow (1882) 16 When..I..May-like young, of pleasure gan to taste.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
mayn.3
/meɪ/, U.S. /meɪ/ Now archaic and regional.
A maiden; a virgin; a young woman.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > young person > young woman > [noun]
daughterOE
maidenOE
young womanOE
mayc1175
burdc1225
maidc1275
wenchc1290
file1303
virginc1330
girla1375
damselc1380
young ladya1393
jilla1425
juvenclec1430
young person1438
domicellea1464
quean1488
trull1525
pulleta1533
Tib1533
kittyc1560
dell1567
gillian1573
nymph1584
winklota1586
frotion1587
yuffrouw1589
pigeon1592
tit1599
nannicock1600
muggle1608
gixy1611
infanta1611
dilla1627
tittiea1628
whimsy1631
ladykin1632
stammel1639
moggie1648
zitellaa1660
baggagea1668
miss1668
baby1684
burdie1718
demoiselle1720
queanie?1800
intombi1809
muchacha1811
jilt1816
titter1819
ragazza1827
gouge1828
craft1829
meisie1838
sheila1839
sixteenc1840
chica1843
femme1846
muffin1854
gel1857
quail1859
kitten1870
bud1880
fräulein1883
sub-debutante1887
sweet-and-twenty1887
flapper1888
jelly1889
queen1894
chick1899
pusher1902
bit of fluff1903
chicklet1905
twist and twirl1905
twist1906
head1913
sub-deb1916
tabby1916
mouse1917
tittie1918
chickie1919
wren1920
bim1922
nifty1923
quiff1923
wimp1923
bride1924
job1927
junior miss1927
hag1932
tab1932
sort1933
palone1934
brush1941
knitting1943
teenybopper1966
weeny-bopper1972
Valley Girl1982
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > unmarried person(s) > unmarried woman > [noun] > young unmarried woman
mayc1175
girla1375
damselc1380
miss1668
intombi1809
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 2489 Þatt clene maȝȝ. þatt shollde ben. Allmahhtiȝ godess moderr.
c1300 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Otho) 30486 Þe king..þat ilke may [c1275 Calig. maide] nom.
c1300 St. Agatha (Laud) 26 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 194 To bringue luþer þouȝt In-to þis swete ȝounge mayȝ.
c1390 G. Chaucer Man of Law's Tale 851 Thow glorie of wommanhod, thow faire may.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 10267 Þat man..Þat has na barn, ne mai ne knaue.
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) ii. 95 Þe corounyng of Henry & of Malde, þat may.
a1450 (a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Rawl.) (1960) A. xii. l. 116 Marie moder and may.
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) vi. i. 22 Sibilla the may.
1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. Nov. 39 The fayrest May she was that euer went.
1590 R. Greene Mourning Garment 11 Nor was Phillis that faire may, Halfe so gawdie or so gay.
1607 W. N. Barley-breake sig. A3 Old Elpin with his sweete and louely May Would oft prepare..To keepe their sheep.
1717 T. Purney Full Enq. True Nature of Pastoral ii. iv. 42 Her distinguishing Character is, that she is a Mey, so young, as to be entirely ignorant of Love.
1818 T. L. Peacock Nightmare Abbey vi. 82 For ill beseems in a reverend friar, The love of a mortal may.
1855 Fraser's Mag. 51 92 The maiden is pure all mays above.
1870 W. Morris Earthly Paradise: Pt. III 349 Amid these latter words of his, the may From her fair face had drawn her hands away.
1891 W. Morris tr. Hafbur & Signy in Poems by Way 158 Why wax thy breasts in no such wise As they wax in other mays?
1998 S. Price Sterkarm Handshake xx. 291 A may's face, a may's nature—runagate and flighty and not a gnat's-turd of sense!
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
mayn.4
/meɪ/, U.S. /meɪ/ An instance of what is expressed by the verb may; a possibility.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > possibility > [noun] > a possible thing or circumstance
possibilityc1460
perhapsa1535
potential1587
potentiality1587
maybe1598
contingencya1626
contingent1655
conceivable1659
possiblea1674
conceptiblea1676
cogitable1678
chance1778
it's an idea1841
may1849
might1850
thought1857
possibly1881
shot1923
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > possibility > [noun] > expression of possibility
perchance?1570
perhapsa1680
may1897
1849 H. Miller Foot-prints of Creator 248 Even were we to permit the sceptic himself to fix the numbers representative of those several mays in the case.
1897 G. Saintsbury Flourishing of Romance ii. 30 These ‘mays’ are not evidence.
1935 G. K. Zipf Psycho-biol. Lang. (1936) 303 From the great number of..mays of today are taken those which are to belong to the matrix of musts of tomorrow.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
mayv.1
/meɪ/, U.S. /meɪ//meɪst/, U.S. /meɪst/, mayest Brit. /ˈmeɪᵻst/, U.S. /ˈmeɪᵻst/; past 1st, 2nd, 3rd singular and plural might Brit. /mʌɪt/, U.S. /maɪt/, (now U.S. regional and nonstandard) mought Brit. /məʊt/, U.S. /maʊt/; 2nd singular (archaic) mightest Brit. /ˈmʌɪtᵻst/, U.S. /ˈmaɪdᵻst/; negative may not, (colloquial, now rare) mayn't Brit. /ˈmeɪənt/, /meɪnt/, U.S. /ˈmeɪ(ə)nt/; might not, (colloquial) mightn't Brit. /ˈmʌɪtnt/, U.S. /ˈmaɪtn(t)/;α. Old English magan, early Middle English muȝhenn ( Ormulum), Middle English mou, Middle English muȝe, Middle English–1500s mow, Middle English–1500s mowe. OE Regularis Concordia (Tiber.) (1993) xxiii. 39 Posse carere : magan þolian.c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 3944 Þatt mann kinn shollde muȝhenn wel Vpp cumenn inn till heoffne.a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 1818 Hu sal ani man ðe mugen deren?c1350 Psalter (BL Add. 17376) in K. D. Bülbring Earliest Compl. Eng. Prose Psalter (1891) xvii. 42 Hij shul nouȝt mow stonde. ▸ a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iv. 38 Thou schalt mowe senden hire a lettre.?a1425 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. iv. pr. i. 69 Thow..shalt mowen retourne hool and sownd.c1450 tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage Lyfe Manhode (Cambr.) (1869) 12 And whan ye wole go withoute me ye shul wel mown avaunte yow.1495 Act 11 Hen. VII c. 5 No Ship of greate burdon shall mowe comme in the seid Haven.1533 T. More Apol. xxii, in Wks. (1557) 885 Some waye yt appered..to mow stande the realme in great stede.
β. Middle English maye, Middle English–1600s may. ▸ 1435 R. Misyn tr. R. Rolle Fire of Love 15 I haue denyed hym to may be knawen.1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) i. 26 As longe that I shalle maye bere armes.?1504 W. Atkinson tr. Thomas à Kempis Ful Treat. Imytacyon Cryste (Pynson) iii. lxiv. 258 Nor stronge helpers shal nat may helpe.1532 T. Cranmer Let. 20 Oct. in Remains (1833) I. 9 I fear that the Emperor will depart thence, before my letters shall may come unto your Grace's hands.1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus Possum To may, or can.1605 R. Verstegan Restit. Decayed Intelligence x. 325 In our own English, to may, signifieth to haue might or power.
2. Present indicative: a. 1st and 3rd singular Old English mæig, Old English mag, Old English (Mercian) Middle English– meg, Old English–Middle English mæg, Old English–Middle English mæi, early Middle English maȝȝ ( Ormulum), Middle English mai, Middle English maig, Middle English maiȝ, Middle English mayg, Middle English mei, Middle English–1500s ma, Middle English–1500s maie, Middle English–1600s maye, Middle English–1600s mey, Middle English– may; Scottish pre-1700 mae, pre-1700 mai, pre-1700 maie, pre-1700 maij, pre-1700 maw, pre-1700 maye, pre-1700 meay, pre-1700 mey, pre-1700 my, pre-1700 1700s–1800s ma, pre-1700 1700s– may. eOE (Mercian) Vespasian Psalter (1965) lxxvii. 20 (19) Numquid poterit deus parare mensam in deserto : ah meg god gearwian biod in woestenne.OE Beowulf 2801 Ne mæg ic her leng wesan.lOE Laws: Gerefa (Corpus Cambr.) viii. 454 Æfre he mæig findan, on ðam he mæig nyt beon.c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 6199 Þa birrþ þin macche gætenn þe. All þatt ȝho maȝȝ fra sinne.c1200 ( West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Hatton) vi. 24 Ne mayg nam man twam hlaferden þeowian.a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 9 Ne þe deofel mey nefre cumen inne him.a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) 352 Ðe grete mai [ȝ] he noȝt bigripen.a1300 Passion our Lord 68 in R. Morris Old Eng. Misc. (1872) 39 As ich eu segge may.a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 295 Ðowgte ðis quead, ‘hu mait ben..Hu mai it hauen, hu mai it sen?’ ▸ c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Philipp. iv. 13 I may alle thingis in him that comfortith me.c1475 Advice to Old Gentleman in J. O. Halliwell Minor Poems J. Lydgate (1840) 40 And my paper it conteyne ne may.1503 Star Chamber Proc. in Trans. Royal Hist. Soc. (1902) 16 152 Alex. maye I trust the?1551 T. Wilson Rule of Reason sig. Hiiijv This maie be true, and this maie be false.1567 Compend. Bk. Godly Songs (1897) 33 Bot luke on that, quhilk now ma not be sene.1684–5 in Trans. Dumfries & Galloway Nat. Hist. & Antiquarian Soc. 3rd Ser. 36 167 That there mey be some small thing of rents received be me quhich I have forgott.1771 T. Smollett Humphry Clinker I. 136 But, perhaps, I mistake his complaisance; and I wish I may, for his sake.1842 Ld. Tennyson Two Voices in Poems (new ed.) II. 136 He knows a baseness in his blood At such strange war with something good, He may not do the thing he would.1995 P. McCabe Dead School (1996) 341 Be that as it may, the scene was still too much for some people. b. 2nd singularα. Old English mæht (Northumbrian), Old English meaht, Old English meht (Kentish), Old English–Middle English miht, early Middle English mahht ( Ormulum), Middle English maht, Middle English maiȝt, Middle English mait, Middle English mat, Middle English mate, Middle English maucht, Middle English mayht, Middle English mayhte, Middle English mayt, Middle English mayth, Middle English meiht, Middle English micht, Middle English miȝt, Middle English mikt, Middle English mith, Middle English myȝt, Middle English myȝte, Middle English myht. eOE (Kentish) Glosses to Proverbs of Solomon (Vesp. D.vi) in U. Kalbhen Kentische Glossen (2003) 118 Si uales et ipse benefac : gif ðu meht and ðu self tela do.OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Luke vi. 42 Quomodo potes dicere fratri tuo [etc.] : hu mæht [OE West Saxon Gospels: Corpus Cambr. miht, c1200 Hatton myht] ðu cuoæða broðre ðinum [etc.].c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 7779 Depe sinness. þatt tu mahht. Wel nemmnenn dæde werrkess.c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 143 Swa þu maht [a1250 Nero meiht] icnawen þin ahne wake unstrengðe.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 2980 Þu mith [c1300 Otho miht] me wel ileue.c1275 Kentish Serm. in J. Hall Select. Early Middle Eng. (1920) I. 218 Þu me micht wel makie hool.a1300 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 117 Ase þu ert freo & wilt & maucht.a1300 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 69 Þus is þes world, as þu mayht seo.c1330 (?c1300) Speculum Guy (Auch.) (1898) 882 For sodeyneliche þu micht [v.rr. mayt, may] be caiht.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 26575 For sua þou mate [a1400 Fairf. mai] noght wasch þi wite.c1400 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Trin. Cambr. R.3.14) (1960) A. i. 146 Here miȝt [v.rr. mygth, myth] þou [v.r. þou miht; c1400 B text myȝtow] sen ensaumplis. ▸ c1426 J. Audelay Poems (1931) 8 Ellys i-sauyd thou maȝt not be.a1450 (?a1390) J. Mirk Instr. Parish Priests (Claud.) (1974) 15 Here thow myȝte fynde & rede.
β. Middle English maiste, Middle English mayste, Middle English–1500s maiest, Middle English–1600s maist, Middle English– mayst (now archaic), 1500s– mayest (now archaic), 1500s– may'st (now archaic). a1275 (?c1200) Prov. Alfred (Trin. Cambr.) (1955) 112 On him þu maist þe tresten.c1450 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women Prol. 504 That maistow seen, she sche kytheth what she ys.c1450 (c1385) G. Chaucer Complaint of Mars 112 Wel maist thou wepe and crien. ▸ a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) I. 143 Thou art overcom and mayste nat endure.1477 Earl Rivers tr. Dictes or Sayengis Philosophhres (Caxton) (1877) lf. 21v Take not from me that, that thou maiest not yeue me.1553 R. Eden in tr. S. Münster Treat. Newe India Pref. sig. aavv In this Booke yu mayest reade many straunge thinges.1640 R. Brome Sparagus Garden ii. iii Thou maist make a Country gentleman in time.1717 A. Pope Eloisa to Abelard in Wks. 433 In sacred vestments may'st thou stand.1793 W. Blake Visions Daughters of Albion 5 Now thou maist marry Bromions harlot, and protect the child Of Bromions rage.1819 P. B. Shelley Cenci v. iv. 104 So mayest thou die as I do.1822 P. B. Shelley Hellas 42 Thou may'st behold How cities [etc.].1909 E. Pound Exultations 47 Well mayst thou boast that thou the best chevalier That any folk e'er had, hast from us taken.1939 T. S. Moore Unknown Known 64 If I lie not still As the cold steel itself, mayest thou therewith Slay me ingloriously upon this bed.a1981 J. V. Cunningham Poems (1997) 114 Thou rulest over night and day, Disposing time in separate times That Thou mayst lessen weariness.
γ. northern Middle English mai, Middle English may, Middle English maye; Scottish pre-1700 ma, pre-1700 may, pre-1700 maye. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 290 Behald þe sune, and þou mai [a1400 Trin. Cambr. maistou] se.c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) 1090 May þou oȝt, lede, þe ȝonder lawe lyft on þi schulder?c1480 (a1400) St. Peter 380 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 18 I am Resine, as þou ma se.1494 W. Hilton Scale of Perfection (de Worde) i. lxxii Thou maye [1533 mayst] not lyue wythout mete and drynke. ▸ ?a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 137 Thow ma rycht weill in thi mynde consydder That [etc.].
c. Pluralα. Old English maga (Northumbrian), Old English magan, Old English mage, Old English magen, Old English mago, Old English magon, Old English magun, Old English mahon, Middle English maȝe, Middle English maȝen, Middle English maȝon, Middle English mah, Middle English mahen, Middle English mawe, Middle English mawen. OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Matt. xx. 22 Potestis bibere calicem quem ego bibiturus sum : magage [OE Rushw. magon git, OE West Saxon Gospels: Corpus Cambr. mage gyt, c1200 Hatton mugen gyt] drinca calic ðone ic drincende beom uel drinca willo.OE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Cambr. Univ. Libr.) i. i. 28 We witan heonan noht foer oðer ealond eastrihte, þæt we magon oft leohtum dagum geseon.lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough interpolation) anno 656 Ealle þa þa to Rome na magen faren.a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 21 We ne maȝen alre coste halden crist bibode.c1225 (?c1200) St. Katherine (1973) 361 Cleopest þeo þinges godes, þæt nowðer sturien ne mahen ne steoren ham seoluen.1439 in R. Willis & J. W. Clark Archit. Hist. Univ. Cambr. (1886) I. Introd. 56 Yer is so grete scarstee of maistres of gramer, whereof as now ben almost none, nor none mawen be hade in your Universitees.
β. Old English mægon, Middle English mai, Middle English mais (northern), Middle English–1500s ma (etc. as in 1st and 3rd person singular). eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Tiber.) (Junius transcript) (1871) xxiii. 176 Ða þe medomlice & wel mægon [Hatton magon] læran.OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: John xiii. 36 Quo ego uado non potes me modo sequi : þider ic giungo ne mægon [OE Rushw. magun] gie mec nu fylge. ▸ a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iv. 1485 Men mai recovere lost of good.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 5518 We ma [a1400 Gött. sal, a1400 Trin. Cambr. shul] sua our landes tin.a1425 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Galba) 29132 We mey se by saint austin lare [etc.].c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) 684 May ȝe oȝt me in any maner to þat sterne schewe?c1480 (a1400) St. John Baptist 761 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 245 Sum cristine þare wonnyne mais.
γ. late Old English mugen, late Old English mugon, early Middle English muȝhenn ( Ormulum), Middle English mo, Middle English moȝe, Middle English moȝen, Middle English mohe, Middle English mou, Middle English moue, Middle English moun, Middle English moune, Middle English mouwen, Middle English mow, Middle English mowghe, Middle English mown, Middle English mowne, Middle English mu, Middle English muee (Kentish), Middle English muge, Middle English muȝe, Middle English muȝen, Middle English muȝhe, Middle English muȝon, Middle English muhen, Middle English muwe, Middle English muwen, Middle English–1500s mowen, 1500s mowe. lOE Homily: Evangelium de Virginibus (Corpus Cambr. 303) in H. L. C. Tristram Vier Altenglische Predigten aus der Heterodoxen Trad. (Ph.D. diss., Freiburg) (1970) 443 Hu mugon we eow beran gewitnesse, þonne we mugen uneaðe us selfe beren gewitnesse of godum weorcum.lOE tr. R. d'Escures Sermo in Festis Sancte Marie Virginis in R. D.-N. Warner Early Eng. Homilies (1917) 135 Emb hire eadmodnysse we mugen eac secgen.c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 13408 We muȝhenn sen whatt itt bihallt.c1200 ( West Saxon Gospels: John (Hatton) xiv. 5 Hu muge we þanne wei cunnan.a1225 ( Ælfric's Homily De Initio Creaturae (Vesp. A.xxii) in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 221 Ne hi muȝen [OE Royal magon] ne hi nelleð nane synne ȝewercon.a1225 ( Ælfric's Homily De Initio Creaturae (Vesp. A.xxii) in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 223 Imugon [= ye may] [OE Cambr. Gg.3.28 ge magon] ȝecnowen eiȝðer god and euyl.c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) 36 Ne muhen ha nanes weis beddin in a breoste.a1250 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Nero) (1952) 19 Touard te preostes tiden herkneð se wel se ȝe muwen.c1250 Death (Calig.) 255 in R. Morris Old Eng. Misc. (1872) 184 Þenne mohe [a1300 Jesus Oxf. muwe] we cwemen crist at þe dom.c1275 Kentish Serm. in J. Hall Select. Early Middle Eng. (1920) I. 215 Ye muee wel understonde..þet [etc.].c1300 St. Thomas Becket (Laud) 979 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 134 Wel ȝe mouwen i-seo þat he is prouȝt. ▸ a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 185 Foules mowe not lyue þere.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 23559 Quine mak þai, sin þai sua mu [a1400 Gött. mv, a1400 Trin. Cambr. mow], Anoþer heuen and erth? ▸ c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) ii. xx. 273 Hem whiche kunnen not rede or moun not here the word of God.a1500 Partenay (Trin. Cambr.) 5446 And ye mow noght, Alway here byde moste ye.?c1500 Digby Plays 69 In alle þe hast þat euer they mown.
d. With negative particle affixed 1600s– mayn't; Scottish 1800s manie, 1800s mennie, 1800s minna, 1800s– maunna, 1800s– mayna. 1631 J. Milton On Univ. Carrier ii. 18 If I mayn't carry, sure I'll ne'er be fetched.1714 J. Macky Journey through Eng. I. ix. 113 Though perhaps he mayn't be worth Ten Shillings.1826 J. Wilson in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Feb. 219 I haena' left a dribble in the jug. I wuss it mayna flee to my head—it's a half-mutchkin jug.1859 C. Dickens Tale of Two Cities ii. xiv. 104 ‘May I go with you, father?’ ‘No, you mayn't.’1915 A. Pollitzer Let. 7 Aug. in G. O'Keeffe & A. Pollitzer Lovingly, Georgia (1990) 10 Mayn't I snitch Dorothy's name for you.1971 ‘M. Innes’ Awkward Lie v. 90 It mayn't be too bad an idea. 3. Present subjunctiveα. Singular Old English mægæ (Northumbrian), Old English mæge, Old English mægge, Old English mægi, Old English mæhge, Old English mege (Mercian), Old English meige (Kentish), Middle English meih, Middle English– meih (as in indicative); plural Old English mægen, Old English mægi (Northumbrian), Old English mægon, Old English megen. eOE (Mercian) Vespasian Psalter (1965) lxx. 7 (8) Ut possim cantare gloriam tuam tota die : ðæt ic mege singan wuldur ðin alne deg.eOE (Kentish) Glosses to Proverbs of Solomon (Vesp. D.vi) in U. Kalbhen Kentische Glossen (2003) 151 Ne...non possis : ðe les ðu ne meige.OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: John xxi. 25 Nec ipsum arbitror mundum capere eos qui scribendi sunt libros : ni doemo ic þætti middangeord mægi bifoa ðailco ðaðe to aurittenni sint boec.OE (Northumbrian) Liturgical Texts (Durham Ritual) in A. H. Thompson & U. Lindelöf Rituale Ecclesiae Dunelmensis (1927) 95 Tibi ualeant apparare : ðe mægi hia aedeaua.OE Beowulf 680 Þeah ic eal mæge.OE Genesis B 400 Gif we hit mægen wihte aþencan.c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 118 Ȝef þu meih.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 1206 & ȝif ich þat lond mai [c1300 Otho mawe] bi-ȝeten.c1400 in C. Horstmann Yorkshire Writers (1895) I. 105 Folow efter sum-whate if þou may!a1556 N. Udall Ralph Roister Doister (?1566) iv. vii. sig. G.iijv Saue thy head if thou may.
β. Singular Old English mage, early Middle English maȝe, early Middle English mahe, early Middle English mawe; plural Old English magen, Old English magon, Old English mahan. OE Ælfric Old Eng. Hexateuch: Gen. (Claud.) xv. 5 Telle þas steorran, gif þu mage.lOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Bodl.) vii. 18 Þæt him þa stormas derigan ne mahan.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 1520 Wheðer ich maȝe [c1300 Otho mawe] þe ufere hond habben.
γ. Singular late Old English muge, early Middle English muȝhe ( Ormulum), Middle English moȝe, Middle English mow, Middle English mowe, Middle English muȝe, Middle English muhe, Middle English muwe; plural late Old English mugen, early Middle English muȝhenn ( Ormulum), Middle English mowe, Middle English mowen (as in indicative). lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough interpolation) anno 675 And he ne muge hit forðian.lOE tr. Alcuin De Virtutibus et Vitiis (Vesp.) in R. D.-N. Warner Early Eng. Homilies (1917) 99 Stih nu ondun, þæt þu muge þonne asteon up.c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 2418 Hu maȝȝ þiss forþedd wurrþenn. Þatt i wiþþ childe muȝhe ben?a1250 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Nero) (1952) 29 I þen ilke huse oþer þer he muwe iseon touward ou.a1275 (?c1200) Prov. Alfred (Trin. Cambr.) (1955) 122 Ne þu ne moȝe [v.r. miht] mid strenȝhe þe selwen steren. ▸ c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 675 Yif me gold [and] oþer fe Þat y mowe riche be.1414 Rolls of Parl. IV. 59/1 That these meschiefs mowen ben amended. ▸ ?1440 tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) i. 131 Fro febul lond, ek chaunge hem yf thou mowe.a1450 (?a1390) J. Mirk Instr. Parish Priests (Claud.) (1974) 95 And but scho mowe se þe hed.
4. Past indicative and subjunctive: a. 1st and 3rd singular Old English mæhte (Anglian), Old English meahte, Old English mehte, Old English–Middle English mihte, early Middle English mihhte ( Ormulum), Middle English mahte, Middle English meghte, Middle English michte, Middle English micte, Middle English miȝte, Middle English miȝth, Middle English miht, Middle English miitte, Middle English miste, Middle English mitht, Middle English mithte, Middle English miþte, Middle English miðte, Middle English miyte, Middle English myȝte, Middle English myȝthe, Middle English myht, Middle English myhte, Middle English myth, Middle English 1600s–1800s mith, Middle English–1500s mighte, Middle English–1500s miȝt, Middle English–1500s myghte, Middle English–1500s myȝt, Middle English–1500s myte, Middle English–1600s myght, Middle English– might, 1500s myggt, 1500s mygth, 1500s mythe, 1500s mytte, 1500s–1600s migth, 1500s–1600s myt, 1600s may't, 1600s migh; Scottish pre-1700 macht, pre-1700 maycht, pre-1700 mecht, pre-1700 meight, pre-1700 micght, pre-1700 miche, pre-1700 miht, pre-1700 mych, pre-1700 mycht, pre-1700 mychte, pre-1700 myght, pre-1700 myth, pre-1700 mytht, pre-1700 1700s–1800s meith, pre-1700 1700s– micht, pre-1700 1700s– might, pre-1700 1700s– mith, pre-1700 1800s– mich. eOE Metres of Boethius (partly from transcript of damaged MS) xi. 102 Gif hit meahte swa.OE (Mercian) Rushw. Gospels: Matt. viii. 28 Ut nemo posset transire per uiam illam : swa þætte nænig mæhte faran þurh wæge þæm.OE Guthlac A 576 Hit ne meahte swa!?a1160 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1137 He ne myhte nowiderwardes, ne sitten ne lien ne slepen.c1225 (?c1200) St. Margaret (Royal) (1934) 31 Ne mahte me na mon ouercomen.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 9327 Ne miste he of þan eorle naþing iwinnen.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 604 To ane wnsume londe þer ich mihte wunien.c1300 (?c1225) King Horn (Cambr.) (1901) 9 He hadde a sone..Fairer ne miste non beo born.c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 1483 Ȝif it miȝte be ido.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) 466 In heuen might [a1400 Vesp. moght, a1400 Fairf. miȝt, a1400 Trin. Cambr. myȝte] he no langer abide.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) 686 Saufli mith þai samen slepe.?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) ii. 3 He was of grete elde, & myght not trauaile.c1400 (?c1308) Adam Davy's 5 Dreams (1878) 14 He ne miȝth þennes goo ne ride.1415 in 43rd Ann. Rep. Deputy Keeper Public Rec. (1882) App. i. 583 in Parl. Papers (C. 3425) XXXVI. 1 I said treuly I meghte not but I wolde cum. ▸ a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) I. 112 Rydynge on a palferey as faste as she myght dryve.c1480 (a1400) St. Thomas Apostle 247 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 136 Til he thocht quhat vyse he micht torment þam.c1480 (a1400) St. Mark 180 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 244 Þat stand one fut na man macht.a1500 (?a1450) Gesta Romanorum (Harl. 7333) (1879) liii. 233 He lernid to be a phisicien, that myte be in eny place.a1529 J. Skelton Woffully Araid 33 in Wks. (1843) I. 142 What myȝt I suffir more Than I haue don?1536 in J. T. Gilbert Cal. Anc. Rec. Dublin (1889) I. 499 In that he mythe obtayne the kyng hys vaverys.1553 R. Eden in tr. S. Münster Treat. Newe India Ded. sig. aaiiijv It myghte happelye haue comen to passe.1567 R. Sempill in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. 33 He mycht haue bene ane marrow to ane Quene.a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) i. ii. 169 Would I might But euer see that man.1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison III. xxvi. 279 The dear creature..took pride, as well she might, in her hair.1827 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd 116 A man mith weel had heard the clutter o'their chafts.1915 A. S. Neill Dominie's Log vi. 65 And what micht yer politics be?1995 Guardian 28 Feb. ii. 2/3 It might sound rotten, but I don't feel sorry for him. b. 2nd singular Old English mæhtest, Old English mæhtes (ðu) (Northumbrian), Old English mæhttes (ðu), Old English meahtest; subjunctive Old English meahte, Old English mihtes (ðu) (Northumbrian), Old English–Middle English mihtest, early Middle English mihhtesst ( Ormulum), Middle English mahtest, Middle English mightist, Middle English miȝtest, Middle English mihtes, Middle English myghttyst, Middle English myȝtest, Middle English myȝtist, Middle English mygtyst, Middle English myhtes, Middle English myhtest, Middle English– might, Middle English– mightest (now archaic), 1500s myght, 1500s myt; also Scottish pre-1700 mychtest. OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Mark xiv. 37 Non potuisti una hora uigilare : ne mæhtes [OE Rushw. mæhttes, OE West Saxon Gospels: Corpus Cambr. mihtest] ðu an huil gewæccæ.OE Crist III 1431 Þu meahte minum weorþan mægwlite gelic, mane bidæled.lOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Bodl.) xx. 48 Mid hu micelan feo woldest þu þa habban geboht þæt ðu switole mihtest tocnawan þine frind & ðine fynd??a1160 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1137 Þu myhtes faren all a dæis fare sculdest thu neure finden man in tune sittende, ne land tiled.c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 5160 Ȝiff þatt tu mihhtesst lufenn godd.a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 29 Hu mahtest þu gan to þine aȝene liche ȝif þin hefet were offe?c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 14031 Ȝet þu mihtest þe awreken.a1300 Passion our Lord 168 in R. Morris Old Eng. Misc. (1872) 42 Ne Myhtestu one tyde wakien myd me.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) 9847 Þus miȝtestou selcouþ calle If þou him say.1509 A. Barclay Brant's Shyp of Folys (Pynson) f. lxviii Than wouldest thou gladly (If thou myght) do well.1535 Bible (Coverdale) Psalms l[i]. 4 That thou mightest be iustified in thy saynges [so 1611].1567 in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. viii. 48 War nocht or faith defendit, Than þow myt writte in gennerall.1674 J. Moxon Tutor to Astron. & Geogr. (ed. 3) ii. 84 You might by..looking through any Star on the Globe see its Match in Heaven.1876 ‘G. Eliot’ Daniel Deronda III. vi. xlviii. 377 You might at least have raised your hat to her.1926 D. H. Lawrence David vii. 51 For thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle.1992 R.-M. Testa After Fire ii. 6 They..regarded me..as if to say, ‘And you? What might you be?’ c. Plural Old English mæghton (Northumbrian), Old English mæhtæs, Old English mæhtes, Old English mæhto, Old English mæhton, Old English mæhtun, Old English meahten (subjunctive), Old English meahton, Old English mihte (we, etc.), Old English mihton, Middle English mæhte, Middle English mahte, Middle English mehten, Middle English micht, Middle English michti, Middle English micte, Middle English migten, Middle English miȝten, Middle English miȝtin, Middle English miȝtten, Middle English miht, Middle English mihten, Middle English mitht, Middle English mithten, Middle English miþte, Middle English myghten, Middle English myȝten, Middle English myȝtten, Middle English myhte, Middle English myhten, Middle English mythten, Middle English– as in 1st and 3rd person singular. OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Matt. xii. 14 Quomodo eum perderent : huu hine mæhtes to lose gedoa.OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Matt. xxvi. 40 Non potuistis una hora uigilare mecum : ne mæhto gie [c1200 Hatton ne myhte ge] ane tid uel huile wæcca mec mið.OE Beowulf 313 Him þa hildedeor [h]of modigra torht getæhte, þæt hie him to mihton gegnum gangan.OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1900) II. 326 And bebyrigdon hine swa swa hi selost mihton on swylcere hrædinge.c1175 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Tiber. B.i) anno 1066 Þet hi ne micte þa brigge oferstigan.a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 129 And ne mehten þer naleng etstonden.a1300 (?c1200) Prov. Alfred (Jesus Oxf.) (1955) 73 Hw ye myhte worldes wrpsipes welde. ▸ a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) v. 2242 Wher thei the profit mihten cacche. ▸ c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) iii. i. 279 That in tho citees the peple of clerkis myȝten dwelle. ▸ a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) I. 132 Hit was so hevy that an hondred men myght nat lyffte hit up.1508 W. Kennedy Flyting (Chepman & Myllar) in Poems W. Dunbar (1998) I. 215 Thay mycht haue tane the collum at the last.1590 E. Spenser F.Q. i. iv. 27 Two iron Coffers full as they might hold.1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 93 That the radier quhen thay walde thay myt schote or caste a darte. d. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd singular and plural Old English–Middle English muhte, Middle English moghte, Middle English moȝt, Middle English moȝte, Middle English moht, Middle English mouchte, Middle English moucte, Middle English moucthe, Middle English mouȝt, Middle English mouht, Middle English mouth, Middle English mouthe, Middle English mowcte, Middle English mowȝt, Middle English muȝt, Middle English 1800s mowt, Middle English 1800s mught, Middle English–1500s mocht, Middle English–1500s moght, Middle English– mought, 1500s moughte, 1500s–1600s moughtest (2nd singular), 1500s–1600s moughtst (2nd singular), 1700s mucht, 1800s mout; Scottish pre-1700 mocht, pre-1700 moght, pre-1700 motht, pre-1700 moucht, pre-1700 mowcht, pre-1700 mowghtt, pre-1700 moycht, pre-1700 1700s mught, pre-1700 1700s–1800s mought; plural Old English–Middle English muhten, Old English–Middle English muhton, Middle English moȝten (etc.). lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 992 Gif hi muhton þone here ahwær utene betræppen.lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1004 He þa gegaderode his fyrde diglice swa he swyðost muhte.?a1160 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1140 Þa hi ne leng ne muhten þolen þa stali hi ut & flugen.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) 2085 He liued lelly quylist he moȝt.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) 12686 His knes ware bolned squa þat he muȝt vnneþes ga.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 14830 And quar-for sent we yow..Bot for to tak him if yee moght [a1400 Trin. Cambr. mouȝt]?a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) 16538 To be done in tresorie, þei seide hit not mouȝt [c1460 Laud mowth].a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 23223 Quils þou moght turn þi hand abute, It suld worth rose witvten dute.c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) 1953 Þay maden as mery as any men moȝten.c1480 (a1400) St. Andrew 890 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 89 Þat mycht na man..sa wel do as he mowcht.1488 in J. T. Gilbert Cal. Anc. Rec. Dublin (1889) I. 493 A yeman keste a spere into the see as far as he moghte.a1529 J. Skelton Colyn Cloute (?1545) sig. B.vii They mought be better aduysed Then to be so dysgysed.1557 M. Basset tr. T. More Treat. Passion in Wks. 1310/1 The traytour mought haue caused hym and hys dysciples to bee taken.1567 G. Turberville Epitaphes, Epigrams f. 25 v Thou hast fled the place..Where thou moughtst chat with me thy fill.1572 (a1500) Taill of Rauf Coilȝear (1882) 492 I vndertuk thay suld be brocht, This day for ocht that be mocht.1590 E. Spenser F.Q. i. i. 42 So sound he slept, that nought mought him awake.1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning ii. sig. Aa3v Wher such as were so disposed, mought giue themselues to Histories.1638 F. Quarles Hieroglyphikes vii. 27 There was no Cave-begotten damp that mought Abuse her beames.1690 Duke of Marlborough in Ld. Wolseley Life Marlborough (1894) II. 212 Soe that the garisons mought pay for what they take.1718 A. Ramsay Christ's-kirk on Green iii. 28 He..Ca'd her a Jade, and said she mucht Gae hame.1789 N. Webster Diss. Eng. Lang. 111 Mought for might is heard in most of the states, but not frequently except in a few towns.1810 S. Green Reformist I. 88 You mought as well, Sir, ax for one of their lives.1849 C. Brontë Shirley I. viii. 188 I mught as weel tell him that at t'same time.1866 R. B. Marcy Thirty Years Army Life xii. 358 I sort-o-reckon maybe you mought git to stay.1872 M. S. De Vere Americanisms 508 In North Carolina ‘it mout be’ is a standing phrase for perhaps.1885 Ld. Tennyson Spinster's Sweet-arts vii Or I mowt 'a liked tha as well.1885 ‘C. E. Craddock’ Prophet Great Smoky Mountains i. 27 They mought jounce round hyar ez ef they war bereft o' reason.1927 A. P. Randolph in Messenger Mar. 131/2 You can't 'speck des ‘nigger’ bosses to speak up for our rights when it mought cos dey jobs.1933 J. M. Brewer in A. Dundes Mother Wit (1973) 248/2 Yuh mought as well die wid de chills.1938 M. K. Rawlings Yearling 144 Mought be, we'll find 'em in a pen some'eres. e. With negative particle affixed 1800s– mightn't; Scottish 1800s– michta, 1800s– michtna, 1800s– mitha, 1800s– mithnin, 1900s– michna, 1900s– michnae, 1900s– michtnae, 1900s– miteno, 1900s– mithna, 1900s– mittina. 1839 W. Carleton Fardorougha xiv. 319 He is afeard if he got drunk that he might n't be able to keep his own secret.1865 R. Hunt Pop. Romances W. Eng. 1st Ser. 96 He left the ‘people’ that he mightn't be read out.1879 G. MacDonald Sir Gibbie I. iv. 46 ‘Ye michtna be up ear eneuch to get yer~self shaved afore kirktime.’1915 V. Woolf Voy. Out xvi. 265 Mightn't we call each other Rachel and Terence?1946 F. Sargeson That Summer 144 If you knew how to do your stuff you never could tell but what it mightn't end up in a date.1978 S. Naipaul North of South i. ii. 63 West 11 If we use only the postal code they mightn't make the connection.2019 S. Pacitti in Lallans 95 54 Ah wis beginnin ti think wi this wither ye michtna come. 5. Present participle Old English magende, Old English megende (Kentish), Middle English mowing, Middle English mowyng, Middle English mowynge, 1500s maeyinge. eOE (Kentish) Glosses to Proverbs of Solomon (Vesp. D.vi) in U. Kalbhen Kentische Glossen (2003) 123 Nec ualens : na megende.OE Ælfric Gram. (St. John's Oxf.) 251 Quiens, magende.a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) : Prov. (Bodl. 959) vii. 11 A womman aȝeyn cam to hym..a chaterere..mowynge [v.r. mowende] in þe hous abijden stille with hir feet.c1429 Mirour Mans Saluacioune (1986) l. 2688 Noght mowing dye in realle clothis of his deitee.c1430 N. Love Mirror Blessed Life (Brasenose e.9) (1908) 271 Petre..nouȝt mowynge reste.1556 tr. J. de Flores Histoire de Aurelio & Isabelle sig. N5 Maeyinge suffer no more, the loue and the deathe of Aurelio. 6. Past participle Middle English mow, Middle English mowe, Middle English mowed, Middle English mowte, Middle English myght, 1500s mought. ?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 198 Wee wolden han gon toward tho trees..ȝif wee had myght.1490 Arte & Crafte to knowe well to Dye (Caxton) 7 Whan the deuyll hath not mowe ne can not induce the man to goo oute of the fayth.c1500 Melusine (1895) 27 Thenne he had nat mow say one only word.c1500 (?a1475) Assembly of Gods (1896) 1951 I wold haue be thens yef I had mowte.?1510 T. More tr. G. F. Pico della Mirandola Lyfe I. Picus sig. b.vv Ye haue mought oftyn tymes and yet may desceyue me.1528 T. More Wks. VI. 26 Yf we had mought conuenyently come togyther. 7. See mowing n.2 I. As a full verb, or as an auxiliary with a verb in the infinitive understood. In forms 1 and 4, might generally functions as the morphological past tense.† 1.
a. intransitive. To be strong; to have power or influence. Old English ic mæg wel [compare Middle High German ich mag wol] : I am in good health. if I may: if I have any power in the matter; hence, if I can avoid or prevent it. I may over: I prevail over. (it) may well with: (it) can well support or endure. Old English (in medical recipes) mæg wiþ: avails against. Obsolete.The sense of quot. c1275 is ‘I do not know for what purpose you exist.’
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > power > have power or might [verb (intransitive)]
mayeOE
to kick ass1977
the world > action or operation > ability > be able to [verb (intransitive)]
sufficea1325
sustaina1382
awelda1387
mayc1395
dowa1400
shape1487
afford1584
to have it in him (also her, etc.)c1600
the world > action or operation > difficulty > opposition > oppose [verb (transitive)] > resist
withstandc888
withsake971
forstanda1000
to stand again ——OE
withsetc1000
again-standOE
to stand againOE
warnc1175
wiþerhaldec1175
atstandc1220
astand1250
withsitc1300
sitc1325
asitc1330
(it) may well withc1395
reversea1400
resist1417
ofstandc1425
onstandc1425
gainstand?c1450
endure1470
obsista1475
repugna1513
recountera1525
occur1531
desist1548
impugn1577
obstrigillate1623
counter-stand1648
stem1675
repique1687
to make face to1807
to fight off1833
to stick up1838
bay1848
withstay1854
buck1857
eOE (Mercian) Vespasian Psalter (1965) ix. 20 Exurge domine non praeualeat homo : aris dryhten ne meg mon.
OE Old Eng. Hexateuch: Gen. (Claud.) xxix. 6 Ða cwæð he: Hu mæg he? Hi cwædon þæt he wel mihte.
OE tr. Pseudo-Apuleius Herbarium (Vitell.) (1984) clxxi. 214 Ðeos wyrt..mæg wið manega untrumnyssa.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 8043 Þatt ifell gast maȝȝ oferr þa Þatt follȝhenn barrness þæwess.
c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) 1621 Ich not neauer to hwan þu miȝt.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) Wisd. xvi. 17 In water, þat alle thingis quencheþ, more þe fijr myȝte [L. valebat].
c1395 G. Chaucer Franklin's Tale 1418 My body, at the leeste way, Ther shal no wight defoulen, if I may.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 149v The kyte is..a brid þat may wel with trauaile.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 295 Scheep..þat haue longe tayles may wors wiþ wynter þan þilke þat haue brode tailes.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) 5869 Þai salle for-soþ if atte I may, wirk ij dayes werk a-pon a day.
c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. xiii. 191 Lynne-seed and lik-seed Aren nouht so worthy as whete, ne so wel mowen In þe feld with þe forst.
c1450 in F. J. Furnivall Polit., Relig., & Love Poems (1903) 197 For & þou ouer me miȝtist, as y ouer þee may.
a1628 J. Carmichaell Coll. Prov. in Scots (1957) No. 1683 Wo is them that thow may over, and that is puir I.
b. intransitive. With cognate object (might, power). Obsolete.
ΚΠ
a1350 in G. L. Brook Harley Lyrics (1968) 68 God, þat al þis myhtes may.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 7708 He him soght Wit all þe mightes [a1400 Gött. miht] Þat he moght.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 18064 He þat suilkins mightes moght.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) iii. l. 396 For all the pouer thai mocht.
1489 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (Adv.) iii. 366 God help him, that all mychtis may!
1508 Golagros & Gawane (Chepman & Myllar) sig. bii* Ay the manlyest on mold that maist of myght moght.
2. Corresponding in meaning to senses 4 and 5.
a. intransitive, with verb of motion understood. To be able to go. Chiefly poetic.
ΚΠ
OE Beowulf 754 He on mode wearð forht on ferhðe; no þy ær fram meahte.
OE Christ & Satan 423 Þæt ic up heonon mæge and mote mid minre mægðe.
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1131 Þær man him held þæt he ne mihte na east na west.
c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 137 Buh þe..duneward þet ich mahe [?c1225 Cleo. mai] ouer þe.
c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) 7907 (MED) For we no mow nowhar oway.
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Reeve's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 197 For it was nyght and ferther myghte they noght.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) I. 372 And whan she was farre in the foreste she myght no farther.
1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 iii. i. 138 The moon shines faire, you may away by night. View more context for this quotation
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream iii. iii. 21 That I may backe to Athens, by day light. View more context for this quotation
?a1610 A. Montgomerie Poems (1887) 131 Quhen ye leist wein, your baks may to the wall.
a1845 W. Barrymore El Hyder (1852) ii. i. 19 Well, I'll just step into the guard-house for the keys, and then you may away.
b. intransitive and transitive (frequently with adverbial or object). To be able to do or be. I may not but: there is nothing for me to do but. Also in proverbial use: see will v.1 Phrases 2.
ΚΠ
OE Beowulf 680 Ic hine sweorde swebban nelle, aldre beneotan, þeah ic eal mæge.
OE Christ & Satan 22 Ðuhte him on mode þæt hit mihte swa, þæt hie weron seolfe swegles brytan.
?a1160 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1132 Þa he nan mor ne mihte.
c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 156 Þu seist þet tin unstrengðe ne mahte nawt elles.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 3234 Ge sulen sen ðis ilke dai Quat godes migt for gu mai.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) Wisd. xi. 24 Þou hast merci of alle, for alle thingis þou maist.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. 1412 (MED) He was a man that mochel myhte.
a1400 (?a1325) Medit. on Supper of our Lord (Harl.) (1875) 522 (MED) Þey bete hym..Tyl þey be wery and mow no more.
a1500 ( J. Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. (Rawl.) (1898) 161 (MED) Who so will not whan he may, he shal not when he wille.
a1500 (?a1475) Guy of Warwick (Cambr. Ff.2.38) 6947 He felle downe and myght no more.
1556 tr. J. de Flores Histoire de Aurelio & Isabelle sig. I7 So muche mighte her malice, that not oneley she sinnede, but made hir husbande sinne.
1567 T. Stapleton Counterblast ii. vii. f. 116v The Bisshops could not remoue him. Yes M. Horn that they might.
1587 A. Fleming et al. Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) III. Contin. 1317/2 Much maie that was not yet.
1597 T. Morley Plaine & Easie Introd. Musicke 2 If it had beene the pleasure of him who may all things.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1623) iii. i. 46 The Moore replies..that in wholsome Wisedome He might not but refuse you.
1667 S. Pepys Diary 26 Nov. (1974) VIII. 549 This I confess is strange to me touching those two men, but yet it may well enough, as the world goes.
1721 J. Kelly Compl. Coll. Scotish Prov. 169 He that may not as he will, must do as he may.
3. intransitive with implied infinitive taken from the context (usually a preceding clause).
a. Corresponding in meaning to any of the senses in branch II.
(a) may, referring to the present or future.
ΚΠ
OE West Saxon Gospels: Luke (Corpus Cambr.) xvi. 26 Þa ðe wyllað heonon to eow faran ne magon.
?a1200 ( tr. Pseudo-Apuleius Herbarium (Harl. 6258B) lxxvi. 20 Ȝenim þanne swa micel swa ðu maȝe mid twa fingre.
a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 37 And helpen heom mid þon þe þu maȝe.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 3524 And help him nu for þu miht.
a1300 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 117 Þu me sschildȝe from þe feonde, ase þu ert freo & wilt & maucht.
?a1300 Harrowing of Hell (Digby) 135 Loke hem nou, wose may.
1485 Malory's Morte Darthur (Caxton) x. xxxvi. sig. D.iiiv Kepe the as wel as euer thow mayst.
1547 Certain Serm. or Homilies sig. Fiiij v To all suche we ought (as we maye) to doo good.
1615 W. Bedwell tr. Mohammedis Imposturæ i. §29 Ah. I know not whether I may aske that question, or not. Sh. Yes, you may.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry V (1623) ii. i. 19 Things must be as they may . View more context for this quotation
1771 T. Smollett Humphry Clinker I. 197 But, perhaps, I mistake his complaisance; and I wish I may, for his sake.
1851 E. Fitzgerald Euphranor 27 We think the world is growing wiser; it may in the end.
1896 A. E. Housman Shropshire Lad v. 8 'Twill do no harm to take my arm. ‘You may, young man, you may.’
1947 C. F. Hockett in Language 23 323 Morphophonemic statements may involve morphophonemes or they may not.
1960 K. Amis Take Girl like You vi. 83 I'll do that small thing if I may.
(b) might, referring to the past.
ΚΠ
OE Guthlac B 1109 Aras ða eorla wynn, heard hygesnottor, swa he hraþost meahte.
c1430 N. Love Mirror Blessed Life (Brasenose e.9) (1908) 75 (MED) Her frendes comforted hem as they myȝten.
?c1430 (?1382) J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 510 Oþere Crist myȝte ȝeve sich a reule and wolde not or ellis Crist wolde ordeyne sich a reule and myȝte not.
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) vi. v. 180 And fra his sorofull hart, as that he mocht, Sum deil expellit hes the dolorus cair.
1689 A. Ashley Let. Aug. in P. King Life of Locke (1829) 183 So far was I from learning the discretion I mought by this that I grew worse than before.
1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison III. xxvi. 279 The dear creature..took pride, as well she might, in her hair.
1805 W. Scott Lay of Last Minstrel ii. xxiv. 52 He joyed to see the cheerful light, And he said Ave Mary, as well as he might.
1857 M. Arnold Rugby Chapel 34 We have endured Sunshine and rain as we might.
b. be that (or it or this) as it may, however that may be (used in ways similar to the phrases at Phrases 1).
ΚΠ
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 16094 Beo heonne-uorð alse hit mæi. i-wurðe þet iwurðe.
1595 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 3 i. i. 195 But be it as it maie: I heere intaile the Crowne To thee.
1792 H. H. Brackenridge Mod. Chivalry I. i. 20 Be this as it may, antiseptic medicines might be very proper.
1820 R. Southey Let. 17 Nov. in Notes & Queries (1975) Sept. 400/1 Be that as it may, I wish you would let me know what books of mine you have not received from Longmans.
1834 M. Edgeworth Let. 8 Mar. in Tour Connemara (1950) i. 10 There goes a story, you know that no woman must ever appear at Ballinasloe Fair. Be this as it may, we were suffered to drive very quietly through the town.
1883 A. Dobson Old World Idylls 211 Rose kissed me to-day. Will she kiss me to~morrow? Let it be as it may, Rose kissed me to-day.
1928 F. Hurst President is Born 14 Be that as it may, the circle of giving in Centralia was anything but a vicious one.
1958 Economist 1 Nov. 387/2 There have been reports of some exchange of views between these two formidable figures. Be that as it may, the manner in which their views have been made known shows a wide and characteristic difference.
1995 P. McCabe Dead School (1996) 341 Be that as it may, the scene was still too much for some people.
II. As an auxiliary verb with a following bare infinitive.The central sense in Old English was dynamic, expressing ability or power (forms 4 and sense 15) or objective possibility or opportunity (forms 5 and sense 16). The deontic (forms 6 and sense 17) and epistemic (forms 7 and sense 18) uses began to develop in Old English and are well-established from Middle English onwards. In modern English the epistemic use is dominant, while the other uses are restricted to spec. contexts or obsolete. A negative with forms 4–6, senses 15 – 17, and senses related to them includes the auxiliary in its scope (i.e. I may not do = ‘I am unable, forbidden, etc., to do’); a negative with forms 7, sense 18, and senses related to them excludes the auxiliary from its scope (i.e. I may not do = ‘It is possible that I will not do’).
* The present tense may with temporal function.† 4. Expressing ability or power; be able, can. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > be able to [verb (intransitive)] > is or are able to or capable of
mayeOE
willeOE
willa1475
kin1875
eOE Rubrics & Direct. for Use of Forms of Service (Durh.) in A. H. Thompson & U. Lindelöf Rituale Ecclesiae Dunelmensis (1927) 114 Gif men færlice wyrde unsofte oððe sprecan ne maege halga him ðis wæter.
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough interpolation) anno 1070 Hi namen þære swa mycele gold & seolfre..swa nan man ne mæi oðer tællen.
a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 185 (MED) Swo muchel muriðe is in þe bureh of heuene þat eie ne maig swo muchel biholden.
c1395 G. Chaucer Canon's Yeoman's Tale 128 We mowen nat..It ouertake, it slit awey so faste.
a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) 577 A best þat men Lynx calles, Þat may se thurgh thik stane walles.
1480 W. Caxton Chron. Eng. cxxvii. 106 Charged with as moche gold and syluer as we mowe bere bitwene our handes.
a1500 (?a1450) Gesta Romanorum (Harl. 7333) (1879) xxxi. 115 The Oynementes shal lose his tethe, In so muche that he shalle not mow fight ayenste the lenger.
1548 Princess Elizabeth & J. Bale tr. Queen Margaret of Angoulême Godly Medytacyon Christen Sowle f. 21v Noman maye separat me from the.
1627 M. Drayton Nimphidia in Battaile Agincourt 123 Thy mighty stroaks who may withstand?
1645 in D. Robertson S. Leith Rec. (1911) 64 Those people [who] may pay for cleanging of thair clothes.
5. Expressing objective possibility, opportunity, or absence of prohibitive conditions; have the potentiality to, be at liberty to, be permitted by circumstances to. Now somewhat rare (sometimes difficult to distinguish from forms 7).The negative may not, never, etc., is Obsolete in this sense.† c. Coupled with can. Obsolete.† d. ye may hear (or lere): you shall hear (or learn). Obsolete.
a. With active infinitive.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > possibility > expressing possibility [verb]
mayeOE
moteOE
maunc1450
can1567
musta1796
eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 904 On ðara Deniscena healfe wearð ofslægen Eohric hira cyng & Æðelwald æðeling.., & swiðe monige eac him þe we nu genemnan ne magon.
OE Ælfric Homily (Cambr. Ii.4.6) in J. C. Pope Homilies of Ælfric (1967) I. 480 Hu magon þas þing gewurðan?
lOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Bodl.) xviii. 42 Hu mag ðær þon[ne] synderlice anes rices monnes nama cuman?
a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 15 Ȝe hit maȝen witen iwis þet hit is al for ure sunne.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 9 (MED) Plente me may in engelond of alle gode ise.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) viii. 1640 (MED) Bot thei him tolde it mai noght be.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 18964 (MED) Hu..mai it [a1400 Gött. ma þis] be, þat vr langage spek þai þus?
?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 6 Cedre may not in erthe ne in water rote.
1449 Will of Waulter Dolman (P.R.O.: PROB. 11/1) f. 138v After the discrecyon of myne Executors as þe shal mow seme most expedient.
?c1480 E. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 640 Lete me haue knowlache of ȝour mynde..whan ȝe shall movn be in this cuntre.
a1500 (?c1450) Merlin i. 22 ‘Alle these thynges’, quod Merlyn, ‘ne mowe the hynder in body, ne in sowle’.
1623 J. Webster Dutchesse of Malfy iii. i. sig. F2 A Count? he's a meere sticke of sugar-candy, (You may looke quite thorough him).
1678 J. Bunyan Pilgrim's Progress 64 And when thou comest there, from thence,..thou maist see to the Gate of the Cœlestial City. View more context for this quotation
1678 B. R. Let. Popish Friends 3 Well may our Irish Friends, cry Oh Hone! Oh Hone!
1782 W. Cowper Hope in Poems 152 A soldier may be any thing, if brave.
1842 Ld. Tennyson Two Voices in Poems (new ed.) II. 136 He knows a baseness in his blood At such strange war with something good, He may not do the thing he would.
1884 ‘H. Conway’ Bound Together I. 55 Different people may hold different opinions as to whether life is pleasanter in large cities or small towns.
1896 Law Times 100 508/2 One third, as nearly as may be, of the vestrymen first elected.
1902 V. Jacob Sheep-stealers viii ‘How do you get it all up to Abergavenny?’ ‘Ah, you may well ask.’
1937 G. Greene Coll. Ess. (1969) II. ii. 83 But literature may thrive on political disturbance, if the disturbance goes deep enough.
b. With passive infinitive.
ΚΠ
eOE (Kentish) Glosses to Proverbs of Solomon (Vesp. D.vi) in U. Kalbhen Kentische Glossen (2003) 118 Et...non ualent comparari : and ne magon bion wiðmetene.
OE Vercelli Homilies (1992) iii. 75 We on oðre wisan ne magon bion gehælede nimðe we ura synna andetten.
c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 127 All þe seouene deadliche sunnen muhen [a1250 Nero muwen, ?c1225 Cleo. Muȝe] beon afleiet.
c1300 St. Mary Magdalen (Laud) 103 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 465 Iudas seide ‘it mai beon i-sold ful deore to bugge with muchel mete’.
c1390 G. Chaucer Parson's Tale 287 Ther is noon oother name..by which a man may be saued but oonly Iesus.
a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) 1194 Worldes worshepe may be cald Noght elles but vanite.
1563 2nd Tome Homelyes Excess of Apparel, in J. Griffiths Two Bks. Homilies (1859) ii. 309 With whose traditions we may not be led, if we give ear to St. Paul.
a1648 Ld. Herbert Life Henry VIII (1649) 418 We have done nothing that may not be abiden by.
1741 I. Watts Improvem. Mind i. ii. 31 When this Observation relates to anything that immediately concerns ourselves..it may be called Experience.
1800 W. Wordsworth Michael 481 The remains Of the unfinished Sheep-fold may be seen Beside the boisterous brook of Greenhead Ghyll.
1877 G. M. Woodrow Hints Gardening India (ed. 2) 110 A straggling shrub, which may be trained to cover a wall.
1940 Times 19 Sept. 7/3 Youth clubs may be found in all districts of the city.
1964 A. Butler Teaching Children Embroidery ii. 22 Hair may be obtained from any Doll's Hospital shop.
ΚΠ
OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1881) I. 288 Se man mot hine gebiddan swa swa he mæg and cann.
?a1160 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1137 I ne can ne i ne mai tellen alle þe wunder.
c1385 G. Chaucer Knight's Tale 2312 Now help me, lady, sith ye may and kan.
1486 in W. B. Scoones Four Cent. Eng. Lett. (1880) 7 Or ellis resorte ageyn to seintuary, if he can or maie.
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) vi. v. 146 Sen weil thow kan and may perform that cur.
ΚΠ
c1275 Doomsday (Calig.) in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 46 Wið þe sunfule also ȝe mahen [v.rr. mouin, mawen] ihere: ‘Goð awariede gostes..In-to berninde fur.’
c1330 Otuel (Auch.) (1882) 398 (MED) Þe king roulond ifere, Wente forþ as ȝe moun here.
a1425 (c1300) Assumption of Virgin (BL Add.) (1901) l. 4 And ȝif ȝe wille to me here, Off oure ladi ȝe mai lere.
a1450 Seven Sages (Cambr. Dd.1.17) (1845) 457 [She] went into a chambyr i-fere, And ful evyly, as ȝe mowe hyre.
6.
a. Expressing permission or sanction: be allowed (to do something) by authority, law, rule, morality, reason, etc. Now somewhat rare exc. (British) in asking and granting permission.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > lack of subjection > permission > be permitted [verb]
mayOE
moteOE
can1489
OE Judgement Day I 3 Oft mæg se þe wile in his sylfes sefan soð geþencan.
OE West Saxon Gospels: Luke (Corpus Cambr.) xvi. 2 Ne miht þu lencg tunscire bewitan.
c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 12 Of þe þinges þe ȝe mahen underuon & hwet þinges ȝe mahen witen oðer habben.
c1350 Apocalypse St. John: A Version (Harl. 874) (1961) 43 Iesus crist graunte vs grace so forto don, þat we mowen comen in to his regne.
1485 Malory's Morte Darthur (Caxton) i. i. sig. aj And yf he wille not come at your somons, thenne may ye do your best.
1549 R. Crowley Voyce Laste Trumpet sig. Aviiiv Thou maist not grudge or repine Agaynst thy kynge in any wyse.
1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. Apr. 91 Pan may be proud, that euer he begot such a Bellibone.
a1639 T. Dekker et al. Witch of Edmonton (1658) i. ii. 9 He likes Kate well. I may tell you, I think she likes him as well.
1646 J. Hall Horæ Vacivæ 129 Illusory deceits may not bee done though to a good end.
1653 H. More Conjectura Cabbalistica 51 Justice did but, if I may so speak, play and sport together in the businesse.
1782 W. Cowper Conversation in Poems 227 An argument of cogence, we may say, Why such an one should keep himself away.
1784 Lett. to Honoria & Marianne III. 115 If one considers the motives which influence to it, we may indeed be amazed.
1804 W. Cruise Digest Laws Eng. Real Prop. III. 128 The grantor says, you may go in this particular line: but I do not give you a right to go either on the right or left.
1852 W. M. Thackeray Henry Esmond III. xiii. 315 May we take your coach to town? I saw it in the hangar.
1863 M. E. Braddon Eleanor's Victory III. vi. 89 ‘That will do, Jepcott,’ said Miss Sarah, ‘you may go now.’
1931 E. M. Brent-Dyer Chalet School & Jo xxi. 261 I simply can't rest. Please, may I go for a walk instead?
1985 A. Blond Book Bk. iii. 49 Bibles, like tobacco and contraceptives, may not be advertised on television.
b. Law. Expressing obligation: be required to do something by law.In the interpretation of statutes, it has sometimes been ruled that may is to be understood as equivalent to shall or must.
ΚΠ
a1715 W. Salkeld Rep. Cases King's Bench (1718) 2 609 Where a Statute directs the doing of a Thing for the sake of Justice or the publick Good, the Word may is the same as the Word shall; thus 23 H.6. says, the Sheriff may take Bail; this is construed, he shall; for he is compellable so to do.
1726 Cases High Court Chancery I. 153 Lord Keeper declared, that tho' the Words in the Act of Parliament were, that the Chancellor may grant a Commission of Bankrupt, yet that (may) was in Effect (must), and it had been so resolved by all the Judges.
1744 J. T. Atkyns Rep. Cases Chancery (1768) III. 166 The words shall and may in general acts of parliament, or in private constitutions, are to be construed imperatively, they must remove them.
1873 Law Rep.: Queen's Bench 8 482 There is no doubt that ‘may’, in some instances, especially where the enactment relates to the exercise of judicial functions, has been construed to give a power to do the act, leaving no discretion as to the exercise of the power.
1961 All Eng. Law Rep. 28 Nov. 2 917 It provides that the court or the minister ‘if satisfied that there is proper ground for doing so’ may make a declaration to that effect. I pay no regard to the word ‘may’, which probably ought to be construed as ‘must’.
1985 Federal Reporter 2nd Ser. 757 1454/1 We have no difficulty in finding that in this context, the term ‘may’ was mandatory.
1995 Halsbury's Laws Eng. (new ed.) XLIV. i. 803 Parliament usually being understood to have intended..a discretion if the language is on its face merely permissive, such as ‘may’. Qualifying words may, however, result in permissive language being construed as mandatory.
c. South Asian and Irish English. Expressing a (polite) command: should, must.
ΚΠ
1933 Trans. Philol. Soc. 1931–2 83 ‘May’ is frequently used in a jussive sense, ‘a reply may kindly be sent as soon as possible.’
1938 Trans. Philol. Soc. 32 May, aux. vb.: should (jussive); cf. you may kindly come.
1979 P. Nihalani et al. Indian & Brit. Eng. i. 120 The number 2210 may please be corrected to read 2110.
1990 L. Todd Words Apart 114 Ye may stop the car this very minute for I'm goin to boke.
1992 Times of India 30 July 15/3 Those tenderers who do not want to collect the tender by hand may please send postal stamps of amount mentioned above.
7. Expressing present subjective possibility, i.e. the admissibility of a supposition, in a direct or indirect statement.From the late Middle English period senses 7a and 7b contrasted with the use of might expressing both the past subjective possibility of a situation (sense 18a; originally in indirect statements) and the present subjective possibility of a past situation (sense 18b; this function was taken over by sense 7c). Subsequently there arose a use of might in virtually indistinguishable contexts, but having the possibility of greater tentativeness (sense 26).
a. In relation to the future and in general predictions (I may be or do = ‘it is possible that I will be’ or ‘do’).
ΚΠ
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 15523 Þurh hire þu miht biwinnen lufe of hire cunnen.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 11963 (MED) Vr neghburs mai [a1400 Fairf. wil, a1400 Trin. Cambr. wol] þam on vs wreke.
c1450 ( G. Chaucer Bk. Duchess 556 And telleth me of your sorwes smerte; Paraunter hyt may ese youre herte.
?c1450 tr. Bk. Knight of La Tour Landry (1906) 88 What harmes and inconueniencez mow come therof to the foule body.
c1515 Ld. Berners tr. Bk. Duke Huon of Burdeux (1882–7) xci. 311 Yf ye go not to my brother for socoure ye may happe to repent it.
1599 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet iii. iv. 25 It may be thought we held him carelesly Being our kinsman, if we reuell much. View more context for this quotation
a1625 J. Fletcher Wild-goose Chase (1652) iv. ii. 40 Stick to that truth, and it may chance to save the.
1628 O. Felltham Resolves: 2nd Cent. lxxii. sig. V6 Miseries that but may come, they anticipate, and send for.
1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 95. ⁋5 The Improvement of our Understandings may, or may not, be of Service to us, according as it is managed.
1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison I. xii. 66 That a learned man and a linguist may very well be two persons.
1872 J. Morley Voltaire i. 10 The violent activity of a century of great change may end in a victory.
1957 Times Lit. Suppl. 15 Nov. p. iv/3 Tomorrow morning's milk may be radioactive.
1958 A. Sillitoe Saturday Night & Sunday Morning xi. 152 He realised that, by going out with a single girl he may one day..find himself on the..brink of the hell that older men called marriage.
1992 Economist 9 May 92/2 If they have to wait for an undistorted market before taking action, Holland may by then be under water.
b. In relation to the present (I may be or do = ‘it is possible that I am’ or ‘do’).The following Old English quot. has traditionally been interpreted as epistemic, but may in fact express objective possibility; epistemic use is otherwise apparently unattested in Old English.
OE Acct. Voy. Ohthere & Wulfstan in tr. Orosius Hist. (Tiber.) (1980) i. i. 15 Eastewerd hit mæg bion syxtig mila brade oþþe hwene brædre.
ΚΠ
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. 174 (MED) Ther is manye of yow Faitours, and so may be that thow Art riht such on.
c1440 ( J. Gaytryge Lay Folks' Catech. (Thornton) in G. G. Perry Relig. Pieces in Prose & Verse (1914) 2 (MED) Perawnter þe defaute may be in thaym þat hase þair saules for to kepe.
c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) xx. 145 The sophist logicinaris per chance may argon [read argou] that [etc.].
1684–5 in Trans. Dumfries & Galloway Nat. Hist. & Antiquarian Soc. 3rd Ser. 36 167 That there mey be some small thing of rents received be me quhich I have forgott.
1707 J. Chamberlayne Angliæ Notitia (ed. 22) iii. xi. 428 The next thing remarkable in the City of London, may be the Bridge.
1751 Affecting Narr. H.M.S. Wager 8 What I have said may seem oddly introduced here.
1852 M. Arnold Empedocles on Etna, & Other Poems 171 A tinge, it may be, of their silent pain.
1875 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 3) I. 463 I dare say, my friend, that you may be right.
1930 E. Waugh Vile Bodies viii. 143 But these young people have got hold of another end of the stick, and for all we know it may be the right one.
1974 C. Taylor Fieldwork in Medieval Archaeol. 12 The circular mound on a hilltop may be a Bronze Age barrow, or it may be the base of a medieval post-mill, or it may be both.
c. In relation to the past. may have with past participle, used for both simple past and perfect tenses (I may have been or done = ‘it was possible that I was’ or ‘did’, ‘it is possible that I have been’ or ‘done’).This has replaced the former use of might with infinitive in the same sense (see sense 18b).
ΚΠ
1425 Rolls of Parl. IV. 289/1 For as muche as the seurtees of yis said somme..may not have beene engrossed.
1590 W. Segar Bk. Honor & Armes i. vii. 8 To this manner of Lie no man is bound to make answere, because many may haplie haue so said.
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §65 Humours, that may haue descended to the Lower Regions of the Body.
1682 H. Prideaux Lett. (1875) 131 It is not Alestre, ye book~sellers son, whom you may have known.
a1726 in C. Burney Gen. Hist. Music (1776) IV. 355 Some others I may have forgot.
1860 R. Williams in Ess. & Rev. 91 Reverence, or deference, may have prevented him from bringing his prayers into entire harmony with his criticisms.
1879 M. E. Braddon Cloven Foot xxxii The husband, or lover, may have been out of the way.
1903 N.Y. Sun 29 Nov. 26 His school reputation may have had the effect of enlarging his self-esteem. He may have been a bit chesty, as it is known in the vernacular of the campus.
1932 D. L. Sayers Have his Carcase xxxiv. 443 But it may quite likely have been the other way: the fact that he had it may have lent colour to the tradition.
1950 B. Pym Some Tame Gazelle 241 ‘I'm sure you will’, she added, feeling that she may have sounded doubtful.
1961 A. Sillitoe Key to Door xxi. 303 His feeling of gladness became one of misery at thinking she may have hoped to pass him unnoticed.
1978 C. P. Snow Realists viii. 236 He may have been a bit of a voyeur.
1983 Guardian 5 Apr. 3 Sheriff Johnston upheld the police contention that the refusal was on the proper grounds that the licence may not have been used in good faith.
8. Used in one of a pair of coordinate clauses with concessive force (may be or do..but = ‘although..is’ or ‘does’).In the Old English example below with dynamic meaning: he mæg = ‘although he is able or free to’ (forms 5).
ΚΠ
OE tr. Apollonius of Tyre (1958) vii. 10 Fleon he mæg, ac he ætfleon ne mæg.]
a1425 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (1987) iii. 1537 He may wel ligge and wynke, But slep ne may ther in his herte synke.
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue ii. vii. sig. k It maie be a sclaunder, but it is no lye.
1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice i. ii. 17 The braine may deuise lawes for the blood, but a hote temper leapes ore a colde decree. View more context for this quotation
1759 S. Johnson Prince of Abissinia I. xiv. 98 You may deny me to accompany you, but cannot hinder me from following.
1859 C. Kingsley Good News of God (1878) xxi. 171 You may be false and dishonest, saith the Lord, but I am honest and true.
1903 D. McLean Stud. Apostles iv. 58 You may force fruit, but you cannot force flavour.
1984 A. Smith Mind iii. xi. 180 The eye may be the visual organ, but it is the brain that sees.
** The present tense may with function equivalent to the subjunctive.It seems likely that this ‘subjunctive’ use of may has developed from the earlier dynamic use (forms 5). In Old English the auxiliary had dynamic meaning while its subjunctive inflections indicated the contingent or hypothetical nature of the subordinate clause. After the loss of distinctive subjunctive inflections during the Middle English period, the latter function was transferred to the auxiliary itself. However, may in most later examples still carries an implication of dynamic meaning, allowing the paraphrase ‘be possible (for one) to’.
9. Used in subordinate clauses involving the idea of purpose or contemplated result.Use of may in the context of a past tense, rather than might (cf. sense 22a), is sometimes found.† c. In relative clauses with final meaning. Obsolete.
a. In clauses of purpose introduced by that or lest; also (occasionally) with omission of that (e.g. after to the end).
ΚΠ
OE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Corpus Oxf.) ii. i. 94 Onfoh þu eorþe lichaman of þinum lichaman genumen, þæt þu hine eft agyfan mæge, þonne hine God liffæste.
a1300 Sinners Beware (Jesus Oxf.) 30 in R. Morris Old Eng. Misc. (1872) 73 Makie we us clene and skere Þat we englene ivere mawe beon.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 14578 Þat agh þe drau þe folk emid, þat þai þe baþ mai se and here.
a1500 ( J. Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. (Rawl.) (1898) 205 Youre lyght so lyght afore men that thay mowen See youre goode workys.
1652 J. Wright tr. J.-P. Camus Nature's Paradox viii. 176 To the end by his return thou maist give o'r complaining.
1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture I. 32 a Make them thin, that they may have the more Crust and the less Crum.
1847 R. W. Emerson Poems 143 Smite the chords..That they may render back Artful thunder.
1910 P. W. Joyce Eng. as we speak it in Ireland 84 Last week when I set out on my long train journey I brought a book that I may read as I travelled along.
1953 Caribbean Q. 3 iii. 157 To prevent the extension of useful practical knowledge..to the Negro lest he may one day rise to the rank of an Overseer.
1990 ICL Techn. Jrnl. 7 200 There is communication between the two streams in order that certain activities may be co-ordinated.
b. In clauses depending on such verbs as beseech, desire, demand, hope, wish, and their allied nouns. Cf. 22c.
ΚΠ
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) x. 258 Hwæt wilt ðu þæt ic þe do? He cwæð: drihten þæt ic mage geseon.
1432 Charter Educ. Henry VI in Paston Lett. (1872) I. 32 The said Erle desireth..that he may putte hem from..occupacion of the Kinges service.
1549 Bk. Common Prayer (STC 16267) Celebr. Holye Communion f. xxiv Graunt that they maie both perceaue and knowe what thinges they ought to do.
1636 in M. Kytö Variation & Diachrony (1991) 111 I desire they may goe for shares and victuall them selves.
1771 [see sense 3a(a)]. 1782 W. Cowper Conversation in Poems 218 He humbly hopes, presumes it may be so.
1908 W. McDougall Introd. Social Psychol. p. vii I hope that the book may be of service to students of all the social sciences.
1970 N.Y. Times 21 Sept. 42/2 Through the new page.., we hope that a contribution may be made toward stimulating new thought.
1984 Guardian 27 Jan. 26 They found a shovel raising hopes that the lost men may have dug themselves into a snow hole.
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OE Cynewulf Juliana 396 Ic..sceal secan oþerne ellenleasran,..cempan sænran, þe ic onbryrdan mæge beorman mine, agælan æt guþe.
a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) 446 For he ne hauen no lið Ðat he muȝen risen wið.
1647 J. Howell The Vote (new ed.) sig. R2, in New Vol. of Lett. Then let me something bring, May hansell the new yeare to Charles my King.
d. In clauses (introduced by that, lest) depending on fear (verb or noun), afraid, and the like.
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1563 2nd Tome Homelyes sig. Ssss.ivv Continuallye to feare, not onely that we maye fall as they dydde, but also be ouercome, and drowned in synne .
1651 C. Cartwright Certamen Religiosum i. 67 Be not highminded, but fear least thou also maist be cut off.
1816 J. Wilson City of Plague iii. iv. 39 Perhaps thou art afraid Lest the night air may spoil its beauty.
1948 L. A. G. Strong Trevannion xvi. 297 Aren't you perhaps afraid the inadequacy may be on your side?
1974 Times 5 Nov. 15/3 The monetarists fear that some unemployment may be the necessary price of avoiding mass unemployment.
1983 Oldham Advertiser 21 Apr. 11 The news ends fears that Mr Barnett..may be forced to leave Parliament because he did not have a seat.
10. Used in certain types of subordinate clause to emphasize the uncertainty of what is referred to.
a. In indirect questions depending on such verbs as ask, doubt, know, think, wonder, and their allied nouns. Now rare.
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eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) xv. 95 Se lariow bið gescinded mid þære oferspræce, þonne he ne conn geðencean hu he nyttwyrðlicost læran mæge ða ðe ðærto hlystan willað.
lOE Laws: Gerefa (Corpus Cambr.) viii. 454 Þæt he asece, hu he yrde mæge fyrme geforðian, ðonne ðæs tima sy.
c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) 1581 (MED) Þat gode wif..ȝeorne fondeþ hu heo muhe [a1300 Jesus Oxf. mowe] Do þing þat him beo iduȝe.
1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende 77/1 Therfore spyre and aske how thou maist goo to hym.
1569 B. Randolph Let. 4 Sept. in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1824) 1st Ser. II. 257 Doubting what synister complainte may be now againste me.
1639 J. Mayne Citye Match i. iii Think, man, how it may In time..raise thee To the sword and cap of maintenance.
1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield I. vii. 63 ‘Who knows how this may end?’ ‘Ay, who knows that indeed,’ answered I.
1901 Scotsman 4 Oct. 5/1 When a cold wave strikes Northern Minnesota, there is no knowing where the thermometer may go.
b. In clauses introduced by an indefinite relative pronoun, adjective, or adverb.
(a) may with infinitive.
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a1530 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Royal) vi. l. 2054 Owthire welle or ill as happyne may.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) i. iii. 145 Come what come may . View more context for this quotation
a1640 J. Fletcher et al. Queene of Corinth i. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Aaaaaav/1 I am confirm'd Fall what may fall.
1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding ii. viii. 55 The Idea of Black is no less positive in his Mind, than that of White, however the cause of that Colour in the external Object, may be only a privation.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 46. ¶6 However weary I may go to Bed, the Noise in my Head will not let me sleep.
1782 W. Cowper Hope in Poems 171 He laughs, whatever weapon truth may draw.
1847 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) xxxiii. 339 Whoever you may be, Sir,..I am deeply grateful to you.
1921 Oxf. Mag. 28 Jan. 163/1 When the official story..is published, whenever that may be, minor details..will require correction.
1969 Jrnl. Law & Econ. 12 ii. 227 Whichever committee procedure we may choose will..infringe one or more of the apparently reasonable conditions he specifies.
1984 A. Brookner Hotel du Lac ix. 132 She then heard them tell her that..there was no future for her in that line, whatever she may think.
(b) may have with past participle.
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1576 W. Lambarde Perambulation of Kent 323 Whatsoever note of infamie we heeretofore may have contracted.
1659 H. Thorndike Epil. Trag. Church of Eng. i. 222 What fault soever may have come..it cannot be presumed to have come upon prepensed malice.
1755 Philos. Trans. 1754 (Royal Soc.) 48 835 Whatever may have been boasted by the alchymistical visionaries.
1861 M. Pattison in Westm. Rev. Apr. 408 The preceptor.., whatever his other qualifications may have been, had not earned his promotion by his Latin style.
1985 New Yorker 28 Jan. 74/2 The Mayor is celebrated for..distancing himself as far as possible from whatever may have gone wrong.
11. Used in a question, with the effect of rendering the tone less abrupt or pointed.
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?a1300 Fox & Wolf 118 in G. H. McKnight Middle Eng. Humorous Tales (1913) 30 (MED) Wat may ben þat?
c1500 King & Hermit in M. M. Furrow Ten 15th-cent. Comic Poems (1985) 253 The wey to þe towne if I schuld wynd, How fer may it be?
a1637 B. Jonson Tale of Tub ii. ii. 70 in Wks. (1640) III Whose Jade may you be? View more context for this quotation
a1721 M. Prior Phillis's Age 1 How old may Phillis be, you ask.
1798 W. Wordsworth We are Seven in W. Wordsworth & S. T. Coleridge Lyrical Ballads 111 Sisters and brothers, little maid, How many may you be?
1886 W. J. Tucker Life E. Europe 401 What may you want with our schoolmaster?
1930 E. Waugh Vile Bodies 61 Now what may you want, my Italian queen?
1991 E. Barker O Caledonia (1992) viii. 94 And what may you be doing? I'll thank you to put that knife down.
12. Used (with inversion of verb and subject) in exclamatory expressions of wish (synonymous with the simple present subjunctive, which (exc. poetic and rhetorically) it has superseded).This use developed from sense 9b, as is shown by early examples, such as quot. 1521, in which the subject precedes may, and antecedent formulae (e.g. quot. 1501) which have a that-clause.
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1501 in A. W. Reed Early Tudor Drama (1926) 240 Wherfore that it may please your good lordship, the premisses tenderly considered to graunt a Writ of subpena to be directed [etc.].]
1521 Petition in Hereford Munic. MSS (transcript) (O.E.D. Archive) I. ii. 5 Wherefore it may please you to ennacte [etc.; cf. 1582–3 Hereford Munic. MSS (transcript) II. 265 Maye [it] pleas yo(ur)r worshipes to caule].
1570 M. Coulweber in J. W. Burgon Life & Times Sir T. Gresham (1839) II. 360 For so much as I was spoyled by the waye in cominge towards England by the Duke of Alva his frebetters, maye it please the Queenes Majestie [etc.].
1590 C. Marlowe Tamburlaine: 1st Pt. sig. A5v Long liue Cosroe mighty Emperour. Cosr. And Ioue may neuer let me longer liue, Then I may seeke to gratifie your loue.
1593 W. Shakespeare Venus & Adonis sig. Diijv Long may they kisse ech other for this cure. View more context for this quotation
1611 M. Smith in Bible (King James) Transl. Pref. sig. ⁋3 Long may he reigne.
1637 J. Milton Comus 32 May thy brimmed waves for this Their full tribute never misse.
1647 Prol. to Fletcher's Womans Prize in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. sig. Qqqqq2/1 A merry Play. Which this may prove.
1712 T. Tickell Spectator No. 410. ⁋6 But let my Sons attend, Attend may they Whom Youthful Vigour may to Sin betray.
1717 Entertainers No. 2. 7 Much good may it do the Dissenters with such Champions.
1786 C. Simeon in W. Carus Life (1847) 71 May this be your blessed experience and mine.
1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop i. viii. 121 ‘May the present moment,’ said Dick,..‘be the worst of our lives!’
1892 Catholic News 27 Feb. 5/5 May this smash-up of his facts remain as a warning to him.
1946 W. H. Auden Litany & Anthem for S. Matthew's Day May we worship neither the flux of chance, nor the wheel of fortune.
1986 B. Gilroy Frangipani House vii. 30 May your soul never wander and may you find eternal peace.
13. Used in the main clause (the ‘apodosis’) of a conditional sentence in which the subordinate clause expresses a rejected hypothesis, or a future contingency considered improbable.This use, in which may replaces might (sense 20b), was frequently criticized by prescriptive grammatical commentators during the 20th cent.
a. With reference to the present or future (may with infinitive = ‘might be’ or ‘do’, sense 20b(a)).
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1820 W. Scott Ivanhoe III. x. 236 But were it otherwise, may I not aid him were he in danger, by other means.
1832 S. Warren Passages from Diary of Late Physician II. ii. 88 ‘Cannot this infamous scoundrel be brought to justice?’ I inquired. ‘If he were, he may prove, perhaps, not worth powder and shot, the viper!’
1833 M. Scott Tom Cringle's Log II. iv. 132 If half a dozen skippers..were to evaporate during the approaching hot months, he may have some small chance of t'other swab.
1983 Radio Times 23 July 60 If I were to be attacked by an assailant wielding a rubber dagger, I think laughing at him may be just as effective.
1989 Independent 24 Oct. 14 People may not feel quite so vulnerable out of doors if they had a telephone in their pocket.
1992 N.Y. Times Mag. 26 Apr. 27/2 Even if prices were to rise, the weak stock market may worsen what many had predicted would be a brief slowdown.
b. With reference to the past (may have with past participle = ‘might have been’ or ‘done’, sense 20b(b)).
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1879 G. F. Jackson Shropshire Word-bk. lxvi May for might is of general usage—people considerably higher in rank than the peasantry employ it. ‘I may a done it, if I'd on'y thought.’
1895 T. Hardy Jude iv. v. 300 If there had been a rope-ladder, and he had run after us with pistols,..I may have acted otherwise.
1903 Eng. Dial. Dict. IV. 61/2 If I'd aheard in time, I may have come yesterday. Oxf.
1912 H. W. Taunt Oxford (ed. 2) 9 Had not Harold..been compelled to fight against Tostig at Stamford Bridge, the issue of the invasion by William may have been differently decided.
1930 B. Trnka Syntax Eng. Verb 52 The English construction may have come into existence even if don had not also had the function of verb substitute.
1967 D. Morris Naked Ape ix. 235 Had they been re-tested a few years later, the reaction may well have been present.
1982 Times 28 Oct. 10/6 If he [sc. General Galtieri] had not invaded then eventually the islands may have fallen into their lap.
1989 Equinox Mar. 85/2 These small dinosaurs, had they not become extinct, may have evolved into a species of Dromiceiomimus sapiens.
1990 Gay Times July 76/1 Had Dusty tried to relaunch her career..she may have been back in retirement again already.
14. Used in a hypothetical statement without an accompanying conditional clause (the condition being expressed by some other element or implied by the context).This use, in which may replaces might (sense 21a), was frequently criticized by prescriptive grammatical commentators during the 20th cent.
a. With reference to the past (may have with past participle = ‘would possibly have been’ or ‘done’, sense 21a(b)).
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1879 G. F. Jackson Shropshire Word-bk. p. lxvi I may have known what was going to happen.
1951 A. Powell Question of Upbringing iii. 165 She may even have allowed me to kiss her on the cheek, though I could not swear to this.
1962 Observer 21 Oct. 10/7 A prime Minister..must not talk too much in Cabinet... Nye [Bevan] may well have foundered on this dangerous rock.
1963 Neophilologus 47 138 It was Beowulf who dealt the final blow... With Nægling intact, he may well have killed the dragon unaided.
1982 Times 25 Oct. 10/1 Schoenberg may never have gone atonal but for the break-up of his marriage.
1989 Guardian 5 Oct. 7 (advt.) This has never prevented the..documentary series, ‘First Tuesday’, from saying ‘Go’; when ‘Stop’ may have been more popular.
b. With reference to the present or future (may with infinitive = ‘would possibly be’ or ‘do’, sense 21a(a)).
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1914 E. R. Burroughs Tarzan of Apes xix. 260 Yesterday and it would not have been too late. Today and it may be better that the poor lady were never found.
1986 Guardian Weekly 9 Mar. 3 Even if it did not it would cut the cooling pipes... The concrete shielding may crack or be damaged..but even if it was not the fire would burn it away.
*** The past tense might with temporal function. Might in senses 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 functions as the morphological past tense of may in forms 4–7, sense 8.These uses have become mainly confined to contexts in which reference to the past is explicitly or implicitly marked, as a result of the proliferation of non-temporal uses of might, and especially since the emergence of sense 26.
15. Expressing ability or power: was able, could. archaic. Perhaps Obsolete.
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OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) i. 188 Ne mihton hi ealle hine acwellan, gif he sylf nolde.
OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xxvi. 40 Ne mihton ge nu wacian ane tid mid me.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 349 Corineus so strong was of honde him ne miȝte no man ne no geant at stonde.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) 12686 His knes ware bolned squa þat he muȝt vneþes ga.
a1438 Bk. Margery Kempe (1940) i. 198 Vn-ethe sche myth stondyn on hir feet.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 670/1 He shotte at me as harde as he myght drive.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) ii. iii. 229 Which till to night, I ne're might see before. View more context for this quotation
1857 [see sense 3a(b)]. 16. Expressing objective possibility, opportunity, or absence of prohibitive conditions; have the potentiality to, be at liberty to, be permitted by circumstances to.This use is strikingly characteristic of the style of Gibbon, as is also that explained under 18b; it is often difficult to determine which of the two senses he intended.In poetry might was formerly sometimes nearly equivalent to ‘did’ or ‘was fit to’, and more recently has been used to express past habit, = ‘used to, would’.
a. With active infinitive. Now rare.† (b) Coupled with could. Obsolete.
(a) Not coupled with another auxiliary.
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OE (Mercian) Rushw. Gospels: Mark ii. 4 Non possent offere eum illi prae turba : hi ne mæhtun gebringan hine him for mengo.
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough interpolation) anno 1070 Þa munecas wiðstoden þæt hi na mihton in cumen.
c1387–95 G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. 299 But al that he myghte of his frendes hente, On..lernyng he it spente.
?c1450 tr. Bk. Knight of La Tour Landry (1906) 23 (MED) She was a ladi of Fraunce, that might spende more thanne fyue hundred pounde bi yeere.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) I. 85 A bedde arayed with cloth of golde, the rychiste that myght be.
a1475 in F. J. Furnivall Polit., Relig., & Love Poems (1903) 275 (MED) Here tendre hert myth breste on iij Quan she sau here sone fre On rode hys lyf lete.
1515 Bp. N. West Let. 4 Apr. in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1846) 3rd Ser. I. 182 He that in a lytell tyme past myght spend a hundreth poundes by yere, may nott att thys day spend xxti.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection i. sig. Bv For the lawe myght nat delyuer them.
1563 B. Googe Eglogs Epytaphes & Sonettes sig. H.viii And there I might discerne the Byrds that songe in euery tree.
1590 E. Spenser F.Q. i. vi. 39 ‘Ah! dearest Lord’, (quoth she) ‘how might that bee, And he the stoutest knight that ever wonne?’
1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost v. ii. 92 Toward that shade I might beholde addrest, The King and his companions. View more context for this quotation
1676 G. Towerson Explic. Decalogue 384 In the infancy of the world such a practice might be necessary to the peopling of it.
1781 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall III. xxx. 181 But the reign of Stilicho drew towards its end; and the proud minister might perceive the symptoms of his approaching disgrace.
1820 J. Keats Lamia i, in Lamia & Other Poems 4 And in those meads where sometime she might haunt, Were strewn rich gifts.
1968 J. Ardagh New French Revolution vi. 169 The State probably increased its own influence over the communes, which previously might play off one inefficient Ministry against another.
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lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1123 Se biscop of Særesbyrig..wæs þær togeanes eall þæt he mihte & cuðe.
a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 9 Ðe speken cuðen oðer mihten.
?c1430 (c1400) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 116 (MED) Wise clerkis..myȝten, couden, and wolden teche þe peple.
1483 ( Pilgrimage of Soul (Caxton) (1859) i. xviii 18 In al that he couthe or myght ley for me in a wayte.
a1500 St. Brendan's Confession (Lamb.) 199 in Geibun-Kenkyu (1968) 25 13 (MED) I haue not worschipid my fadir and modir..as I ouȝte, coude, or myȝte.
b. With passive infinitive. Now rare.
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OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1881) I. 174 Ac þæt godes mæden ne mihte beon bepæht þurh ænige lyffetunge fram hire leofan drihtne.
c1300 (?c1225) King Horn (Cambr.) (1901) 10 (MED) He hadde a sone..Fairer ne miste [v.rr. micte, myhte] non beo born.
1568 A. Scott Poems (1896) ii. 95 Thair wes no deth mycht be devynd.
1720 Philos. Trans. 1717–19 (Royal Soc.) 30 1036 When held against the light, they might be seen through.
1832 E. Bulwer-Lytton Eugene Aram I. i. xi. 176 The lone house of her lover, which might be seen afar across the landscape.
1975 W. Morris & M. Morris Harper Dict. of Contemp. Usage 319 ‘Cooperate’, which formerly might be written ‘co-operate’or ‘cöoperate’.
1980 ‘W. Trevor’ Other People's Worlds ii. 39 An out-of-the way Odeon..to which entrance might be made through a broken window of the Ladies'.
17. Expressing permission or sanction: was allowed (to do something) by authority, law, rule, morality, reason, etc.This use is now chiefly literary, and mainly limited to contexts where permission is denied or restricted.
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OE Ælfric Let. to Wulfsige (Corpus Cambr.) in B. Fehr Die Hirtenbriefe Ælfrics (1914) 6 Hy [sc. chief priests] mihton þa wel habban wif on þam dagum.
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1127 Ealle þa ærcebiscopes..seidon þæt hit wæs togeanes riht, & þæt he ne mihte hafen twa abbotrices on hande.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) 13875 We færen scolden; ne mihte we bilæue.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 120 (MED) Where is it in Holi Scripture groundid..that men schulden or miȝten lauȝwe?
c1450 (?a1405) J. Lydgate Complaint Black Knight (Fairf.) 41 in Minor Poems (1934) ii. 384 [W]ho-so that wolde, frely myght [e] goon In-to this parke.
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. 65 For without the popes licence they might nat marie.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) i. i. 23 So please my Lord, I might not be admitted. View more context for this quotation
1697 J. Dryden Ded. Æneis in tr. Virgil Wks. sig. (b)2 Helenus..was yet surviving, and might lawfully claim before him.
1700 P. Motteux et al. tr. M. de Cervantes Hist. Don Quixote II. iv. v. 387 Telling him that he might now undisguise himself.
1742 J. T. Atkyns Rep. Cases Chancery (1767) II. 525 The court were of opinion, that he might be sworn.
1823 C. Lamb Christ's Hosp. in Elia 37 Here the poor boy was locked in..without sight of any but the porter..who might not speak to him.
1871 ‘M. Twain’ Eye-openers 87 All the high houses..were full, windows, roof, and all. And well they might be.
1898 M. Deland Old Chester Tales 237 It was she who informed him that he might stay.
a1902 S. Butler Way of All Flesh (1903) xxii. 96 They might not cut out things, nor use their paint box... Their cousins might play with their toy train on Sunday.
1922 H. F. Moulton Life Ld. Moulton vii. 191 Finally A. 6 were told that they might proceed with the production of amatol.
1942 G. M. Trevelyan Eng. Social Hist. x. 315 Courts Martial, by a prudent provision of the Mutiny Act, might only take place before dinner.
1984 P. Howard State of Lang. vi. 104 The priests of the Eleusinian mysteries might not be named.
1994 Church Times 2 Dec. 2/3 An amendment said that only orthodox Trinitarian Christians might be lay canons of Christ Church, Oxford.
18. Expressing subjective possibility with reference to the past.
a. Expressing the past subjective possibility of a previous or subsequent situation.This sense occurs earliest in indirect statements, corresponding, with ‘sequence of tenses’, to sense 7. In later use it also occurs where indirect speech is implied by the context.
(a) Referring to a later situation (I might be or do = ‘it was possible that I would be’ or ‘do’).
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1472 in C. L. Kingsford Stonor Lett. & Papers (1919) I. 128 Furste I was disposid to have sente to þe [Norce] to have felte my seid Mastres: but me thought after, þat it had not bene beste, for paraventur the Norce wolde feer to breke fer wiþe her, and also shee myght not contynue and abide uppon the communicacion.
1578 T. Nicholas tr. F. Lopez de Gómara Pleasant Hist. Conquest W. India 60 Alleagyng..that he who had common 2000 leagues by Sea, mought well goe 70 leagues by lande.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones III. vii. xiv. 123 He began to reflect that in a few Minutes he might possibly deprive a human Being of Life, or might lose his own. View more context for this quotation
1816 J. Austen Emma III. xviii. 343 All necessity of concealment..would soon be over. The disguise, equivocation, mystery,..might soon be over. View more context for this quotation
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. xx. 527 They well knew that an inquiry could not strengthen their case, and might weaken it.
1902 H. James Wings of Dove iii. ii. 112 They would eat and drink because of what might happen tomorrow.
1915 J. Buchan Thirty-nine Steps ii. 37 I would be the next to go. It might be that very night.
1925 F. S. Fitzgerald Great Gatsby iii. 56 I've been drunk for about a week now, and I thought it might sober me up to sit in a library.
1946 D. C. Peattie Road of Naturalist (U.K. ed.) iii. 40 One necessity after another was thrown away, as the owner remembered that he might have to carry it, if the oxen died.
1952 P. Bowles Let it come Down i. ii. 20 He thought he might throw up if he had to watch the needle go into the fur again.
a1971 R. Whyatt in J. Burnett Useful Toil (1974) i. 126 A recruiting drive was on, and her brothers might have to go.
1976 Time 16 Aug. 26/1 Henry Kissinger planned his latest global foray with the care of a man who might not soon be making another.
(b) Referring to a contemporaneous situation (I might be or do = ‘it was possible that I was’ or ‘did’).
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1668 Duchess of Newcastle Grounds Nat. Philos. (ed. 2) App. ii. i. 251 And they all agreed, that probably there might be several kinds and sorts of worlds.
1814 J. Austen Mansfield Park III. xv. 282 It might be all a lie, he acknowledged; but..there was no answering for anybody. View more context for this quotation
1877 J. D. Chambers Divine Worship Eng. 195 On Ash Wednesday, after Sext there might be a Sermon.
1891 T. Hardy Tess of the D'Urbervilles I. xviii. 233 It occurred to Angel that this might be a lead in the right direction.
1891 T. Hardy Tess of the D'Urbervilles III. lvi. 245 They might have quarrelled, or Mr. D'Urberville might still be asleep.
1927 V. Woolf To Lighthouse iii. i. 219 Anything might happen, and whatever did happen, a step outside, a voice calling.., was a question.
1934 H. G. Wells Exper. in Autobiogr. I. iv. 188 I had not yet been confirmed... I suggested that I might have ‘doubts’.
1969 I. Murdoch Bruno's Dream v. 45 Danby did exactly what he wanted and never seemed to think that this might not suit Adelaide perfectly.
1989 J. Wambaugh Blooding xxv. 233 Mick Mason would come to work fifteen minutes before he had to and might stay hours after he could have gone home.
(c) Referring to an earlier situation (I might have been or done = ‘it was possible that I had been’ or ‘done’).
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1778 F. Burney Evelina I. xix. 125 Probably, they might not have discussed the matter previously.
1836 T. Hook Gilbert Gurney II. vi. 309 I thought perhaps the news..might have induced you to retract; and that you might have considered it a perfect justification of your withdrawal.
1882 R. L. Stevenson New Arabian Nights II. 10 It was my first idea that a gang of thieves might have broken in... But what should bring thieves to Graden Easter?
1886 York Herald 10 Aug. 5/6 After the death of Mrs. Dixon, Mrs. Britland..suggested that they might have been poisoned.
1891 T. Hardy Tess of the D'Urbervilles III. lvi. 245 They might have quarrelled, or Mr. D'Urberville might still be asleep.
1957 R. M. Wardle Oliver Goldsmith i. 5 Apparently it never entered his head that a man—especially an Irishman—might have preferred, for the joke's sake, to use a word which didn't make sense.
1966 G. Greene Comedians iii. iii. 290 For all we knew we were both bastards, although of course there might have been a ceremony—my mother had always given me that impression.
b. Expressing the present possibility of a past situation, i.e. the admissibility of a supposition about a situation in the past (I might be or do = ‘it is possible that I was’ or ‘did’). Now rare. Perhaps Obsolete.This sense has been superseded by may have been or done (sense 7c; described by the N.E.D. as more logical on the grounds that ‘the subjective possibility is a matter of the speaker's present’).
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c1500 Melusine (1895) 18 And that same tyme the said Raymondin might be xiiij yere of age.
1579 J. Stubbs Discouerie Gaping Gulf D7 Which mought wel ynough be the cause why the Pope decked hym with hys title.
1673 W. Wycherley Gentleman Dancing-master ii. ii. 164 Nay, it may be, indeed; he might lend it to him for aught I know.
1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison II. xxix. 274 Your father, my dear (but you might not know that) could have absolved you from this promise.
1762 R. Hurd Lett. Chivalry & Romance ix. 85 After all, these two respectable writers might not intend the mischief they were doing.
a1794 E. Gibbon Autobiogr. (1896) 258 After the publication of my Essay, I revolved the plan of a second work; and a secret Genius might whisper in my ear that [etc.].
1834 Tracts for Times No. 22. p. 3 All along the whole length of the garden (which might be perhaps nearly one hundred yards) he had fixed stakes.
1862 G. Borrow Wild Wales xcv It might be about half-past two in the afternoon when I left Lampeter.
1945 ‘A. Gilbert’ Black Stage v. 69 ‘But—who saw you do that?’ ‘No one, I should think, since we were all in the dark.’ ‘Still, they might hear it.’
19. Used in one of a pair of coordinate clauses with concessive force (might be or do..but = ‘although..was’ or ‘did’).
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a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) ii. xiii. sig. Y1 Which knot might well be cut, but vntied it could not be.
a1790 B. Franklin Autobiogr. (1968) 66 These might be all good Things, but as they were not the kind of good Things that I expected,..I despaired.
1819 J. Lingard Hist. Eng. I. i. 35/1 This loss might grieve, but did not dishearten Carausius.
1924 A. D. Sedgwick Little French Girl ii. xi. 188 She might be detached, and even callous; but she was not brazen.
1955 L. P. Hartley Perfect Woman ii. 22 Harold might not be in Who's Who but he had nothing to conceal.
1979 C. P. Snow Coat of Varnish i. 11 Humphrey Leigh might not know many of his neighbours, but he had a good idea of their terms of tenure and the value of their property.
**** The past tense might with non-temporal function.Senses 20, 21, 22, and 23 still had in Old English the dynamic force of senses 15 and 16. In senses 20 and 21 the past tense form might continues the use of the past tense subjunctive of may. In sense 22 might has developed as a periphrasis for the subjunctive mood. Senses 24, 25, 26 represent further developments of might as a non-temporal auxiliary with hypothetical and epistemic force.
20. Used in the statement of a rejected hypothesis, or a future contingency considered improbable, and its consequences.
a. In the subordinate clause of a conditional sentence (the ‘protasis’) (sometimes with inversion, esp. in poetry: might I = ‘if I might’).† (b) might have with past participle, used in relation to the past. Obsolete.
(a) might with infinitive, used in relation to the present or future. archaic.
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eOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Otho) xxix. 66 Æ[lc cy]ninc wolde bion butan þissum, [& habb]an þeah anwald gif he meahte; ac ic wat þæt he ne mæg.
a1225 (?OE) MS Vesp. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 233 (MED) Mihti [= mihte hi] efre isi, Na ȝewold ham selfe to bigeten wrldlic echte.
a1350 in G. L. Brook Harley Lyrics (1968) 38 (MED) Myhte ich hire haue ant holde, in world wel were me.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 4123 (MED) To stint wald he, if he moght [a1400 Fairf. muȝt].
1508 Golagros & Gawane (Chepman & Myllar) sig. biiv Gif pament or praier mught mak that purchese.
1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. Mar. f. 9 Mought her necke bene ioynted attones, She shoulde haue neede no more spell.
1594 C. Marlowe & T. Nashe Dido iii. iii And mought I liue to see him sacke rich Thebes Then would I wish me with Anchises Tombe.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Timon of Athens (1623) i. ii. 81 Might we but haue that happinesse..we should thinke our selues for euer perfect. View more context for this quotation
1807 Ld. Byron To Ellen in Wks. (1898–1904) I. 75 Oh! might I kiss those eyes of fire, A million scarce would quench desire.
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c1400 (?a1300) Kyng Alisaunder (Laud) (1952) 1059 (MED) Miȝth she haue yfounde a knijf, She had yspilt sone her lijf.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VI 175b The erle of Warwicke had come to short home, to tel these tidynges, if the duke might haue had his awne will.
a1578 R. Lindsay Hist. & Cron. Scotl. (1899) I. 299 [He] intendit to marie hir gif he might haue had the popis lecence.
a1617 S. Hieron Penance for Sinne in Wks. (1620) II. 88 Dauid mought he haue had his choise no doubt he would rather haue had one little drop of mercy.
1726 G. Shelvocke Voy. round World ix. 286 We took a booty..which might have been made valuable, if discretion and prudence might have had the management of it.
b. In the main clause of a conditional sentence (the ‘apodosis’).
(a) might with infinitive, used in relation to the present or future (might be or do = ‘would be able to’, ‘would be allowed to’, ‘would perhaps’).
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eOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Otho) vii. 17 Gif þæt þine agne welan wæron þe þu mændest þæt þu forlure, ne meahtes [t þu] hi na forleosan.
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1127 Þa beþohte he him þæt gif he mihte ben rotfest on Engleland þæt he mihte habben eal his wille.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 5163 Ȝiff þat tu mihhtest lufenn godd. Swa þatt itt wære himm cweme..Þa mihhtesst tu ben borrȝhenn.
a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich Hist. Holy Grail liii. 96 Ȝif owre Rem with Owten kyng be Ony while, It Myhte sone thanne fallen into Exylle.
c1450 (c1385) G. Chaucer Complaint of Mars 205 Yf that jelosie hyt knewe, They myghten lyghtly leye her hed to borowe.
1609 B. Jonson Case is Alterd i. sig. B4v If I did put on this sadnesse..Then might it seeme affected. View more context for this quotation
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 143 A fault which easy Pardon might receive, Were Lovers Judges, or cou'd Hell forgive. View more context for this quotation
1816 J. Austen Emma I. xviii. 312 But if he wished to do it, it might be done. View more context for this quotation
1875 Ld. Tennyson Queen Mary i. iii. 18 So you would honour my poor house to-night, We might enliven you.
1892 T. Hardy Tess (ed. 5) xxxvi. 315 If he were dead it might be different.
1930 D. H. Lawrence Assorted Articles 19 If I could dance all day as well, I might keep going. It's this leaving off that does me in.
1976 J. McClure Rogue Eagle ii. 33 ‘But what..if someone..gave him the money and support he needed?’ ‘We might be right in the poo.’
(b) might have with past participle, used in relation to the past (might have been or done = ‘would have been able to’, ‘would have been allowed to’, ‘would perhaps have’). †Also with omission of have (obsolete).
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a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) I. 167 And he wolde a fought on foote, he myght have had the bettir of the ten knyghtes.
1525 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles II. 402 He might wel escaped, if he had wolde.
1615 Bp. J. Hall Contempl. III. O.T. xi. 413 If she had spoken too loude, and incomposedly, hee might haue had some iust colour for this conceit.
1664 J. Wilson Projectors i You mought have come up a pair of stairs higher if you had pleas'd.
a1692 ( in J. Stevenson Lett. & Papers Illustr. Wars Eng. in France (1864) II. 450 (MED) The whiche gode, and it had ben wel gouverned, might many a yeere susteyned [c1503 Arnold's Chron. haue susteyned] youre werres.
1700 Moxon's Mech. Exercises: Bricklayers-wks. 27 If the House had stood by it self..then we might have had light to the Stairs.
1764 S. Foote Mayor of Garret i. 22 If the war had but continued awhile, I don't know what mought ha been done.
1895 R. L. Douglas in Bookman Oct. 23/1 Had he but shown a little more firmness and astuteness, he might have secured infinitely better terms than he did.
1940 J. Buchan Memory Hold-the-Door ii. 29 Had I gone to a public school I might have developed into a useful wing three-quarter.
1985 J. Howker Nature of Beast i. 19 We might have laughed at that if we'd been in a different mood.
21. Used in a hypothetical statement without an accompanying conditional clause (the condition being expressed by some other element or implied by the context).
a. Expressing a hypothetical possibility.
(a) might with infinitive, used in relation to the present or future (might be or do = ‘would possibly be’ or ‘do’).This construction is occasionally found where might have with past participle (sense 21a(b)) would be expected, as in quot. 1968.
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OE Blickling Homilies 69 To hwon sceolde þeos smyrenes þus beon to lore gedon? eaþe heo mehte beon geseald to þrim hunde penega.
c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) 4 (MED) Fleschliche þonkes..makied þe to þenchen..Hu muche mahte of inker streon awakenin.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) 5354 No tong miȝt telle þe twentiþe parte Of þe mede to menstrales þat mene time was ȝeue.
c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. v. 21 (MED) Of þis Matere I mihte Momele ful longe.
1477 Earl Rivers tr. Dictes or Sayengis Philosophhres (Caxton) (1877) lf. 1 Werkes that myght be most acceptable to hym.
1576 A. Fleming tr. C. Plinius Novocomensis in Panoplie Epist. 257 I my selfe seeme to consume the time, which otherwise on my booke mought be employed.
1644 W. Prynne & C. Walker True Relation Prosecution N. Fiennes 82 Might not every Governour and Generall upon this pretence deliver up any Fort?
1796 H. Hunter tr. J.-H. B. de Saint-Pierre Stud. Nature (1799) I. 477 The same doubts might be started, respecting the nature of Water.
1820 W. Scott Ivanhoe I. xi. 222 ‘What is thine own name and lineage?’ ‘To tell that..might reveal my master's.’
1888 R. Kipling Phantom Rickshaw 73 Don't try to run the Central India States just now as the correspondent of the Backwoodsman. There's a real one knocking about here, and it might lead to trouble.
1899 Geogr. Jrnl. 13 233 A map of the world in early Cambrian times might show the influence of these pre-geological incidents.
1955 A. Powell Acceptance World 35 Self-interest..plays less part in these deviations than might be supposed.
1968 Times 21 Dec. 15/4 He might, he guessed, be a brigadier by now, because apart from his single silly slip he had been able at his job.
(b) might have with past participle, used in relation to the past (might have been or done = ‘would possibly have been’ or ‘done’).
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a1350 Life St. Alexius (Laud) l. 511 in F. J. Furnivall Adam Davy's 5 Dreams (1878) 71 (MED) Þou myȝtest [v.r. mist] han ben a greth lording.
c1430 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women 728 And certeyn, as by resoun of hire age, There myghte have ben bytwixe hem maryage.
a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) i. i. 123 Your father might haue kept This Calfe..from all the world. View more context for this quotation
1621 R. Montagu Diatribæ Hist. Tithes 93 Diuers haue protested against the taking or holding Parsonages as Lay-fees, when they mought haue had them vpon good Purchase.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 21. ¶6 He might have found a better Solution for this Difficulty, than any of those he has made use of.
1809 B. H. Malkin tr. A. R. Le Sage Adventures Gil Blas II. vi. i. 435 Three figures such as ours might have dumbfounded a better man.
1823 F. Clissold Narr. Ascent Mont Blanc 20 A false step might have swept us below into an immense crevasse.
1865 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend II. iii. iv. 23 Lurid indications of the better marriages she might have made, shone athwart the awful gloom of her composure.
1898 E. W. Hamilton Mawkin of Flow xvii. 228 A neatness that any well-to-pass housewife might have envied.
1923 J. Conrad Rover v. 66 It might have been a trap; but as the man seemed alone..a boat was sent to take him off.
1974 M. Forster Seduction of Mrs. Pendlebury xi. 117 The sight of Mrs P. complete with black fur hat and garish make-up might have proved irresistible. As it was, she was accepted as part of the furniture.
b. colloquial. Expressing a possibility that contrasts with a person's actual behaviour.
(a) might with infinitive, used to convey a counsel or suggestion of action, or a complaint that some action is neglected.
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a1529 J. Skelton Colyn Cloute (?1545) sig. B.viv They mought be better aduysed Then to be so dysgysed.
1748 T. Smollett Roderick Random II. xlv. 88 As for these gentlemen,..I think they might shew a little more respect for their benefactors.
1864 G. Meredith Emilia in Eng. II. v. 77 ‘I dare say he dined early in the day’, returned Emilia.. . ‘Yes, but he might laugh, all the same.’
1920 A. Bennett Accident 143 ‘You might shut the door properly,’ said Paul with curtness.
1946 C. Bush Case Second Chance viii. 118 You might be so good as to say I rang him on rather urgent business.
1975 D. Lodge Changing Places ii. 67 You might freshen my drink for me.
(b) might have with past participle, used to express a complaint that some not difficult act of duty or kindness has been omitted, or some incivility has been perpetrated.
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1667 R. L'Estrange tr. F. de Quevedo Visions ii. 83 You might have had more manners (cry'd one) than to give such Language to your Betters.
1797 in C. K. Paul William Godwin (1876) I. 237 You might have been so good as told me a few more particulars.
1855 E. C. Gaskell North & South II. xiv. 188 So that was the lady you spoke of as a woman?.. You might have told me who she was.
1876 ‘G. Eliot’ Daniel Deronda III. vi. xlviii. 377 You might at least have raised your hat to her.
1894 G. M. Fenn In Alpine Valley I. 147 ‘They might have offered to help us..’ said Aunt Ecclesia, pettishly.
1933 D. L. Sayers Murder must Advertise viii. 140 You might have let somebody know. I was left rather up in the air this morning.
1998 R. Stone Damascus Gate xxix. 225 ‘She might have told us,’ he said.
c. colloquial. Expressing the equivalence or equal result of a hypothetical action in comparison with the actual situation.This use resembles, and perhaps derives (with omission of as well), from the use of might as well have with past participle in Phrases 3a.
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1924 ‘W. Fabian’ Sailors' Wives vi. 84 ‘Mustn't we? Why not?’ ‘Oh, Warren! Because.’ She might have been the fifteen-year-old child again.
1955 ‘N. Shute’ Requiem for Wren ii. 31 ‘Fine,’ I said. ‘I might have walked out yesterday instead of five years ago.’
1970 ‘A. Gilbert’ Death wears Mask ix. 137 I might have come from Ernie, to tell him he's won £25,000 in the draw.
1984 J. O'Donoghue Sergeant Horn's Murder Trap vi. 41 ‘I might have been one of Ma Dolma's brasses for all you know.’..‘Come off it.’
22. Used in subordinate clauses involving the idea of purpose or contemplated result.May, in the parallel use (sense 9), usually correlates with a present tense in the main clause, but might (or Old English meahte) in such sentences can correlate with either a past tense or a present tense. Grammarians have sometimes wished for a stricter ‘sequence of tenses’ (cf. the quots. below).
1788 L. Brittain Rudim. Eng. Gram. 107 The preterit is sometimes mistaken for the present tense; as, ‘What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?—Lord that I might (may) receive my sight’.
1788 C. Coote Elements Gram. Eng. Lang. 235 ‘I am come, that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.’ (John X, 10.) Here may would be more proper than might, as it is more correspondent with the tense of I am come.]
a. In clauses of purpose introduced by that or lest; also (occasionally) with omission of that (e.g. after to the end).
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OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Mark iii. 10 Inruerent in eum ut illum tangerent : hia raesdon on him þætte hine hie gehrindon uel hrina mæhtæs.
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) i. 187 Þa worhte he fela wundra, þæt men mihton gelyfan þæt he wæs godes bearn.
a1425 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (1987) i. 279 And softe sighed, lest men myghte hym here.
c1450 Jacob's Well (1900) 251 A turtyl also puttyth here bryddes in a priue place þat sche myȝte þe more sekyrly kepyn hem.
1541 T. Elyot Image of Gouernance Pref. sig. aii I wisshed that it had ben publisshed in such a tunge, as mo men mought understande it.
1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 115 Leaste that the difficultie of the thing mighte somwhat discouragie you, I will [etc.].
1649 Bp. J. Taylor Great Exemplar i. ad §1.16 The Virgin was betrothed lest honourable marriage might be disreputed.
1677 Earl of Orrery Treat. Art of War 191 And have caused my Pike-men to trail their Pikes, that they might not have been seen by the Enemy; which if shoulder'd, or ported, they would be.
1751 S. Johnson Rambler No. 170. ⁋7 Lest my appearance might draw too many compliments.
1807 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 17 342 I took several children to see the woman that they might behold the nature of the disease.
1888 H. James Aspern Papers 226 That I might be quite sure she mentioned it at once.
1922 World's Paper Trade Rev. 10 Mar. 767/1 Stabilisation of wages is an urgent necessity in order that the industry might enjoy continued peace.
1934 H. Roth Call it Sleep ii. i. 141 In order that he might be nearer the stables, they moved..to 9th Street.
1961 I. Khan Jumbie Bird xi. 161 Laving his face, so that no one coming in might know that he was crying.
1999 Clocks Dec. 24/3 Johnson expressed a desire to be buried in an upright position in order that he might be prepared ‘to run at the sound of the last trump’.
b. In relative clauses with final meaning.
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OE Ælfric Homily (Corpus Cambr. 162) in J. C. Pope Homilies of Ælfric (1967) I. 327 Hys [sc. Christ's] wundra næron awritene ealle, ac þa ane man wrat þe mihton genihtsumian mannum to hæle.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 573 Al-migtin god him bad it so; And mete quorbi ðei migten liuen.
c1480 (a1400) St. Thais 127 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 218 Scho..lefit a hole quhare men mocht reke hyre mete, as þame thocht.
1513 T. More Rich. III in Wks. 491 If it might stand with your pleasure to be in such place as might stande with their honour.
a1637 W. Lisle Divers Anc. Monuments Saxon Tongue (1638) sig.T 3 b Whereby they mought the better serue their God.
1751 S. Johnson Rambler No. 170. ⁋3 My mother sold some of her ornaments to dress me in such a manner as might secure me from contempt.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. ii. 201 It was not easy to devise any expedient which might avert the danger.
1888 A. Jessopp Coming of Friars vii. 325 The prophets had been groping after a formula which might be their strength.
c. In clauses depending on such verbs as beseech, demand, desire, wish, and their allied nouns. archaic. Perhaps Obsolete.
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a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. 203 Unto the god ferst thei besoughten..That thei myhten fle the vice Which Simon hath in his office.
c1400 (?c1380) Patience l. 328 Prayande..þat into his holy hous myn orisoun moȝt entre.
1546 in State Papers Henry VIII (1852) XI. 162 Wischyng that, if yt shall so happen, I mought be agaynst that tyme ready armyd.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) i. ii. 169 Would I might But euer see that man. View more context for this quotation
1670 J. Smith England's Improvem. Reviv'd 13 It is my great request to God that there might not be one Family in England want bread.
1834 Tracts for Times No. 22. p. 11 I desired he might come to me into my Study.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. v. 572 He demanded that a large vessel might be detained.
1888 H. James Aspern Papers I. iii. 59 I wish I might think that I should bring you a little.
d. In clauses (introduced by that, lest) depending on fear (verb or noun), afraid, and the like.
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1513 T. More Wks. (1557) 53 F4 He fering lest their mocions might minishe his credence.
1606 G. W. tr. Justinus Hist. iii. 19 Fearing, least if the Lacedemonians shoulde be the first that violated the league, they might haue seized thereupon.
1691 A. Gavin Observ. Journy to Naples 135 Fearing lest some Insurrection might be caus'd.
1751 T. Smollett Peregrine Pickle I. xxi. 152 He began to fear, that his passion for Emilia might..derogate from the dignity of his situation.
1860 ‘G. Eliot’ Mill on Floss II. v. vi. 302 Fear lest the shock of joy might even be fatal.
1938 R. Franken Gold Pennies xix. 224 Fearful that he might be missing out on something.
1949 D. M. Davin Roads from Home v. 69 They're afraid they might have to pay out a bit of compo.
1968 L. Durrell Tunc 68 Afraid that he might indeed doze off in this attitude.
23. Used to emphasize the uncertainty of what is referred to.
a. In indirect questions depending on such verbs as ask, doubt, know, think, wonder, and their allied nouns.
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OE Ælfric Old Test. Summary: Esther (transcript of lost MS) in B. Assmann Angelsächsische Homilien u. Heiligenleben (1889) 94 Man ofaxode..gif ænig mæden ahwær mihte beon afunden.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 9358 Ȝet hit weore a wene whar þu heo mihtes aȝe.
a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) 502 He..weren in ðoȝt Wu he miȝten him helpen o[ȝ]t.
c1330 (?c1300) Guy of Warwick (Auch.) 2897 Noyse & cri he herd in þat cite; He gan oxy what it might be.
c1395 G. Chaucer Clerk's Tale 109 Ne kouden nat vs self deuysen how We myghte lyuen in moore felicitee.
a1525 Bk. Sevyne Sagis 2314, in W. A. Craigie Asloan MS (1925) II. 74 Bot euer he studyit to fynd a gyn How he mycht to þe lady wyn.
a1533 Ld. Berners tr. Arthur of Brytayn (?1560) cvi. sig. F*iv And than he demaunded of his seruauntes what it might be [Fr. que c'estoit qu'il auoit].
1795 S. T. Coleridge Conciones ad Populum 62 On her enquiring what might be the price of the jewels, she is told, they were [etc.].
1861 G. W. Dasent tr. Story Burnt Njal II. 1 The Earl asked of what stock he might be.
1916 A. S. Neill Dominie's Log ii. 32 Who knows what raptures great music might bring to a country child?
1945 F. L. Green Odd Man Out 167 He wondered how he might contrive to escape it altogether.
1986 Today 22 Dec. 11/4 They don't quite know what a bonk might be.
b. In clauses introduced by an indefinite relative pronoun, adjective, or adverb.
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a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) 2489 Þe prouost dede pertli profer..What man..miȝt þe beres take, He schuld gete of gold garissoun.
c1475 Gregory's Chron. in J. Gairdner Hist. Coll. Citizen London (1876) 194 What man myght or wolde..bryng the sayde John Cade to the kyng..shulde have..a thousande marke.
1668 J. Dryden Of Dramatick Poesie 19 The Unity of Place, how ever it might be practised by them, was never any of their Rules.
1722 D. Defoe Moll Flanders 72 I was limitted from Marriage, what Offer soever might be made me.
1876 ‘G. Eliot’ Daniel Deronda II. iv. xxxii. 303 The incident was trivial whatever import it might have.
1967 A. Wilson No Laughing Matter 463 This sea was as much part of her as the desert, whatever Marcus might say.
1986 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 25 Oct. 80/5 No matter how skittish she might feel, old girls of 59 mustn't even flutter an eyelash at a young spunk.
24. Used (since Middle English with inversion of verb and subject) in exclamatory expressions of wish (sometimes when the realization of the wish is thought hardly possible). poetic. Perhaps Obsolete.This appears to have developed from the hypothetical use (sense 20a).
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a1350 (?c1225) King Horn (Harl.) (1901) 166 (MED) Crist him myhte blesse.
c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) 1607 (MED) Ay moȝt [a1500 Trin. Dub. mot] he lefe, ay moȝt he lefe, þe lege Emperoure!
1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice ii. ii. 88 Lord worshipt might he be, what a beard hast thou got. View more context for this quotation
1720 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad VI. xxiv. 261 Oh!..might I..these Barbarities repay!
1852 M. Arnold Empedocles on Etna, & Other Poems 97 Now round us spreads the watery plain—Oh might our marges meet again!
25. Used in questions.
a. With the effect of rendering the tone of an enquiry less abrupt or pointed.
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a1592 R. Greene Comicall Hist. Alphonsus (1599) i. sig. A4v Alphonsus what might be the cause That makes thee thus to pine away with care?
a1627 T. Middleton & W. Rowley Old Law (1656) v. 69 And which might be your faire Bride sir?
1630 T. Dekker Second Pt. Honest Whore v. ii. 285 What mought I call your name, pray?
1856 D. M. Mulock John Halifax II. ii. 34 What might your name be, sir?
1935 P. Oppenheim Amazing Quest v How far might you be going, sir?
1953 E. Ambler Schirmer Inheritance 110 And what might that be?
1992 R.-M. Testa After Fire ii. 6 They..regarded me..as if to say, ‘And you? What might you be?’
b. might I, etc., in asking permission, as a more polite and tentative equivalent of may I (sense 6a).
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1860 J. Ruskin Unto this Last iv, in Cornhill Mag. Nov. 546 Might I enquire the species of fish. Whale? or whitebait?
1864 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend (1865) I. i. vi. 48 Might I have half a word with you?
1899 O. Wilde Importance of being Earnest ii. 67 Might I have a button-hole first?
1928 V. Woolf Let. 15 Oct. (1977) III. 545 Might I beg some Saviour's flannel or rabbit ear?
1992 Rev. Eng. Stud. 43 248 Might I use your columns to invite any of your readers..to send in notes of these.
26. Expressing present subjective possibility in a direct statement.This use probably arose from the use of might in a hypothetical statement without an accompanying conditional clause (sense 21a). It is often said to be more tentative than may in sense 21a, but has increasingly occurred in indistinguishable contexts.
a. In relation to the past. might have with past participle, used for both simple past and perfect tenses (I might have been or done = ‘it is possible that I was’ or ‘did’, ‘it is possible that I have been’ or ‘done’).
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1847 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) xxvi. 263 That gallant officer..would have imprinted a kiss on her..lips, but for her interposing the fan... It might have been in modesty; it might have been in apprehension of some danger to their bloom.
1891 T. Hardy Tess of the D'Urbervilles II. xxxii. 148 The superiority might have been a growth of the imagination aided by subsequent knowledge.
1921 Blackwood's Mag. Feb. 157/1 I might have been lit up a bit, but sozzled—no.
1925 H. L. Foster Trop. Tramp with Tourists 300 Well, you might have been once, but you're a flat-tire these days!
1936 ‘J. Tey’ Shilling for Candles i. 6 ‘Might have walked into the water till she drowned,’ said Bill.
1954 J. R. R. Tolkien Fellowship of Ring i. x. 183 You might be a play-acting spy..You might have done in the real Strider.
1957 I. Asimov Naked Sun iv. 50 What might have been the shower stall, a large one, was shielded off..by a trick of lighting.
1969 Daily Tel. 14 Mar. (Colour Suppl.) 5/1 Wage rises might have been slightly checked but ‘the social wage’ has gone up steadily.
1979 P. Theroux Old Patagonian Express iii. 52 It might have been sisal, but more likely was the tequila plant.
1991 Which? Nov. 646 If a change to your regular prescription leaves you puzzled, you might have been prescribed what's called a ‘generic’ medicine.
b. In relation to the future (I might be or do = ‘it is possible that I will be’ or ‘do’).
ΚΠ
1859 C. Dickens Tale of Two Cities ii. x. 89 I might not have the hopefulness to do it for weeks; I might..have that hopefulness to-morrow.
1860 R. Williams in Ess. & Rev. 92 One might ask, whether the experience of our two latest wars encourages our looking to Germany.
1869 A. J. Evans Vashti xiv. 184 It is possible that you may die quite suddenly; consequently, it might be impracticable for me to fulfil the promise.
1921 J. Galsworthy To Let i. i. 9 Old Timothy; he might go off the hooks at any moment. I suppose he's made his Will.
1923 F. M. Ford Let. 15 Oct. (1965) 155 I have by me a story of his that I don't like much. I might print it—but it is extremely over-written.
1958 R. Stow To Islands 118 Brother Heriot has disappeared... He might never come back.
1977 A. C. H. Smith Jericho Gun i. 16 If you present it at the Tote pay window, even you might get some money back.
c. In relation to the present (I might be or do = ‘it is possible that I am’ or ‘do’).
ΚΠ
1885 Cornhill Mag. June 649 There might be some difficulty in lighting on a beaver nowaday except in a museum.
1894 Life 19 Apr. 256/1 One of the young lady telephone operators might be listening to our talk and we don't want our telephone taken out.
1935 Burlington Mag. Mar. 147/2 A rite so essentially Japanese that it might be said to epitomize Japanese culture.
1960 R. Dahl Kiss, Kiss 298 ‘Don't shout. There might be keepers.’ ‘Screw the keepers!’ he cried.
1976 Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) 4 Mar. a2/4 The Vatican radio said,..‘Racism might have different faces but it will always be reprehensible.’
1995 Guardian 28 Feb. ii. 2/3 It might sound rotten, but I don't feel sorry for him.
Phrases
P1. In †be as be may, that is as may be, and similar expressions: whether that is so or not, that may well be so: phrases used to indicate that a statement or act, etc., is perhaps true or right from one point of view but not from another, or that there are other factors to be taken into consideration.
ΚΠ
c1375 G. Chaucer Monk's Tale 3319 Be as be may, I wol hire noght accusen.
c1390 G. Chaucer Man of Law's Tale 1012 Be as be may, ther was he atte leste.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) I. 73 Be as hit be may.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 444/2 Be as be maye, vaille que vaille.
1801 W. Diamond Sea-Side Story i. i. 10 Jerry: Why, I be looking after a friend. Will you be one? Daz: That's as may be.
1863 M. E. Braddon Aurora Floyd II. xii. 303 ‘Is there aught wrong?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Poachers?’ ‘That's as may be’, answered Mr. Dork.
1875 A. Trollope Way we live Now I. xlix. 311 ‘Good news?’ she asked. ‘That's as may be,’ he said.
1910 J. Galsworthy Motley 168 ‘Yu'le tak' the ole 'arse then?’ ‘That's as mebbe—waal, gude naight.’
1935 G. Heyer Death in Stocks iv. 41 That's as may be, and if it's true you couldn't say but what it's a judgment.
1949 F. Maclean Eastern Approaches i. viii. 133 If the authorities had received no instructions regarding my journey it could only be due to a most regrettable omission. To this he answered that this was as it might be; but without explicit instructions he could not allow me to remain on Chinese territory.
1949 H. Pakington Young W. Washbourne vi. 51 ‘But if it was used as a sitting-out place it wouldn't be secluded,’ said Mrs. Harbottle. That was as it might be, retorted Mrs. Wilkins.
1975 T. Heald Deadline ii. 23 ‘I shall have to liaise with the police.’ ‘That's as may be,’ said Lord Wharfedale.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > possibility > [adverb] > perhaps
is wenc897
wen isc897
peradventurec1300
peradventurec1325
perchancec1350
uphapa1375
percasea1393
lightly1395
in casea1398
maybea1400
may chancea1400
may-falla1400
may-fortunea1400
may-tidea1400
perhapa1464
happen1487
perhapsc1520
percase1523
ablea1525
by chance1526
mayhap1533
fortunea1535
belikelya1551
haps1570
mayhappen1577
perhappen1578
possibly1600
not impossibly1667
ables1673
aunters1673
aiblins1720
p'rapsa1745
aunterens1825
mebbe1825
yes-no1898
yimkin1925
ja-nee1937
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 2759 (MED) If þou þar findes..Fifty or fourte o þi lele men—Tuenti mai falle, or tuis fiue—Ne sal þai alle haue þar for liue?
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 4977 ‘A word,’ he said, ‘es soth mai fall.’
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) ix. 376 Thai that war vithin, ma fall, slepit all.
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1897–1973) 54 May tyde he will oure giftis take.
1548 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Paraphr. John 7 Mafortune as then ye tyme did not suffer so inexplycable a misterie to be put in wryting to all mens knowledge.
1561 T. Hoby in tr. B. Castiglione Courtyer Ep. Translatour sig. B.i Many yong gentlemen, which haue may chaunce an opinion that to be in me, that is not in deed.
1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xvi. 72 That [dancing] onely is reserued, which beareth oftimes blame, machance being corrupted by the kinde of Musick.
P3. may as well.
a. Expressing the equivalence or equal result of one action in comparison with another, either stated or implied.
(a) might as well with infinitive and might as well have with past participle, in which might expresses hypothetical action (see sense 21a).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > equality or equivalence > equality [phrase] > may or might as well
may as wellc1300
c1300 St. James Great (Laud) l. 353 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 44 Ȝe, al for nauȝt..þou art hidere i-come..Ase wel þou miȝht gon hom-aȝein.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 11905 (MED) So longe hom spedde baddeliche þat hii miȝte as wel blinne.
a1450 York Plays (1885) 264 (MED) Sir, we myght als wele talke Tille a tome tonne!
1549 Latimer's 2nd Serm. bef. Edw. VI (1869) To Rdr. 49 We myghte as well spende that tyme in reading of prophane hystories.
1599 T. Nashe Lenten Stuffe 75 I might as well haue writte of a dogges turde (in his teeth surreuerence).
1652 J. Shirley Brothers iv. v, in Six New Playes (1653) He might as well have murdered me, for I Shall have no heart to live.
1692 E. Walker tr. Epictetus Enchiridion xviii As well you might Wish Vice were Virtue.
1710 Tatler No. 222 A Man might as well serenade in Greenland as in our Region.
1730 Let. to Sir W. Strickland relating to Coal Trade 25 Dyers..buy wholly of the Lightermen, tho' they might as well..buy of the Masters.
1787 ‘P. Pindar’ Ode upon Ode (ed. 5) 43 Thus when the Oxford Bell, baptiz'd Great Tom, Shakes all the City with his iron Tongue, The little tinklers might as well be dumb.
1800 W. Wordsworth Hart-leap Well ii. ix You might as well Hunt half a day for a forgotten dream.
1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin II. xxiii. 77 You might as well set Mount Ætna on them flat, and tell them to stand up under it, as tell me to elevate my servants under all the superincumbent mass of society upon them.
1970 G. F. Newman Sir, You Bastard ii. 60 Poor bastard might as well have been fined today as kept on the hook.
(b) may as well with infinitive, in which may has the sense ‘be able to’ or ‘be permitted to’.
ΚΠ
?1545 C. Langton Introd. Phisycke f. xlv Nowe I haue descrybed all ye partes of the lowest bellye, so well as I coulde, sauyng the priuy partes both of man and woman, whyche..seyng my promyse was to tuche but certayne partes, I thinke I may as wel omyt them.
1594 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. II. To Rdr. sig. B2 The beetle-eyed Atheists may as well be depriued of their bodily eyes.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 493 The prouerb..may as well bee applyed metaphecically to the beast Linxe, as poetically to the man Lynceus.
1652 W. Blith Eng. Improver Improved ii. 14 He..may as well make a hedge to keep in the Cuckow.
1719 in T. Gordon Cordial Low-spirits (1750) 214 You may as well argue with a Guiney Merchant against the Selling of Slaves.
1779 J. Warner in J. H. Jesse G. Selwyn & his Contemp. (1844) IV. 263 I wish I could make him feel as he ought, but one may as well wash a brick.
1860 R. W. Emerson Fate in Conduct of Life (London ed.) 9 You may as well ask a loom which weaves huckaback, why it does not make cashmere.
1938 R. Finlayson Brown Man's Burden 27 You may as well try to get blood out of a stone as evidence out of a native!
1995 X Jrnl. May–June 40/2 One may as well try to pick up several fallen Humpty's.
b. Expressing the idea that a course of action is as good as any other, and hence resignation to it or recommendation of it.
(a) may as well with infinitive.
ΚΠ
1742 H. Fielding Joseph Andrews I. ii. vii. 212 I may as well repose myself too. View more context for this quotation
1773 J. Berridge Christian World Unmasked 118 Satan may as well bar up his gates: he will not catch a single straggler.
1794 W. Godwin Caleb Williams I. ix. 209 I think we may as well stop here a bit.
1868 Hurst Johnian Mag. 10 343 As I am writing for young skaters I may as well mention the ‘spread eagle’, a feat of not much value.
1879 M. E. Braddon Cloven Foot xxxviii You really may as well let me have a little food.
1992 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) Feb. 129/2 We..may as well accept the theory of Oswald as the sole killer.
(b) might as well with infinitive (with ‘sequence of tenses’ when in an indirect statement).
ΚΠ
1768 L. Sterne Sentimental Journey II. 46 As I am at Versailles, thought I, I might as well take a view of the town.
1853 E. C. Gaskell Cranford ix. 163 In a P.S. she added, she thought she might as well tell me what was the peculiar attraction to Cranford just now.
1863 Life in South II. 65 If I must enter a College it might as well be in Alabama or Mississippi.
1867 A. Trollope Claverings II. xxiii. 287 We might as well stay with them at the big house.
1936 ‘J. Curtis’ Gilt Kid 33 Nearby was a little café... I might as well go in.
1986 New Yorker 27 Jan. 47/1 I thought I might as well do some air tests.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
† mayv.2
Obsolete.
transitive. To dismay. Also intransitive: to be dismayed.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > dismay > lose heart or be dismayed [verb (intransitive)]
mayc1380
bash1382
dismayc1390
darea1400
dreepc1430
discourage1524
quail1548
blank1642
despond1655
the mind > emotion > fear > quality of inspiring fear > quality of being intimidating > intimidate or bully [verb (transitive)] > dismay
dismay1297
amayc1330
mayc1380
esmay1393
asmayc1420
formayc1470
esbay1480
astonish1535
appal1548
consternate1651
repall1687
aghast1876
c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) 978 (MED) Ac wan Charlis hit wiste & seȝ, for hymen hym gan to maye.
c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) 3010 (MED) Þof þai war mo be mony, mayse nott in hertes.
c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) 5399 (MED) Oure mode kyng was so maied, myndles him semed.
c1460 (?c1400) Tale of Beryn 2018 Ful sore he gan to may.
1575 J. Rolland Treat. Court Venus ii. f. 23 In all my dayis was I not half sa mayt.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
mayv.3
/meɪ/, U.S. /meɪ/ Now chiefly poetic.† 2. transitive. To cover with (or as with) hawthorn blossom. Obsolete. rare.
1. intransitive. To take part in the festivities of May Day, or in the general celebrations of the month of May; to gather flowers in May. Also in extended use.Now only as present participle (but see also maying n.).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > social event > festive occasion > specific festivities > [verb (intransitive)] > May-day festivities
may1485
1485 Malory's Morte Darthur (Caxton) xix. ii. sig. Z.ij Soo as the quene had mayed and alle her knyghtes, alle were bedasshed with herbys mosses and floures.
1508 W. Dunbar Goldyn Targe (Chepman & Myllar) in Poems (1998) I. 188 Ladyes to dance full sobirly assayit, Endlang the lusty rywir so thai mayit.
1589 R. Rogers Diary 3 Nov. in Two Elizabethan Puritan Diaries (1933) 91 This world..which..I am lik enough to offende in and go maying in respect of my corruption.
1814 C. Dibdin Farmer's Wife iii. v. 73 Fair Lisette at last..Stole out, and with him Maying went.
1899 M. J. Cawein Myth & Romance 68 You and I in the hills went Maying.
1905 E. Nesbit Rainbow & Rose iii. 48 The rest are playing..Happy children, whom Joy takes maying.
1966 R. Pitter Still by Choice 31 Hundreds of houses now where they went maying About their father's meads.
ΚΠ
?1585 W. C. Aduentures Ladie Egeria sig. G2v A foul weedy stincking nettle, bespringled and mayed with vnsauory white blossoms.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1eOE
n.2lOEn.3c1175
n.41849
v.1eOEv.2c1380
v.31485