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Contents 1 English 1.1 Pronunciation 1.2 Etymology 1 1.2.1 Verb 1.2.1.1 Usage notes 1.2.1.2 Synonyms 1.2.1.3 Derived terms 1.2.1.4 Translations 1.3 Etymology 2 1.3.1 Noun 1.3.1.1 Derived terms 1.3.1.2 Translations 2 Crimean Tatar 2.1 Noun 2.1.1 Declension 2.1.2 Synonyms 3 Kurdish 3.1 Noun 3.1.1 Derived terms 4 Tagalog 4.1 Verb 5 Tatar 5.1 Alternative spellings 5.2 Noun 5.2.1 Declension

[ English

Rank of this word in the English language, from analyzing texts from Project Gutenberg.
very	upon	man	#70: may	about	its	time

[ Pronunciation

• enPR: mā, IPA: /meɪ/, SAMPA: /meI/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}

  Rhymes: -eɪ

[ Etymology 1

Old English magan, from Germanic. Cognate with Dutch mogen, German mögen, Icelandic mega.

[ Verb

Infinitive -

Third person singular may

Simple past might

Past participle -

Present participle -

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

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

   You may smoke outside.

   May I sit there?

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

   He may be lying.

3. (subjunctive present, defective) Expressing something that is possibly true.

   come what may

[ Usage notes

• May is a defective verb. It has no infinitive, past participle and no future tense. Forms of to be allowed to are used to replace these missing tenses.
• The simple past (both indicative and subjunctive) of may is might
• The present tense is negated as may not, which can be contracted to mayn't, although this is old-fashioned; the simple past is negated as might not, which can be contracted to mightn't.
• May has archaic second-person singular present indicative forms mayest and mayst.
• Usage of this word in the sense of possibly is considered incorrect by some speakers and writers, as it blurs the meaning of the word in the sense have permission to. These speakers and writers prefer to use the word might instead.

[ Synonyms

• (have permission to): can, could, might
• (possibly): could, might
• (in subjunctive): might

[ Derived terms

    term derived from "may"

as the case may be be it as it may, be that as it may, be this as it may come what may devil-may-care if I may I may not but it may well with, may well with let the chips fall where they may

may as well maybe may chance may-fall may-fortune mayhap mayhappen may I?

may-issue mayn't may-tide may you live in interesting times that is as may be, that's as may be those who will not when they may, when they will they shall have nay what-you-may-call-it

[ Translations

have permission to

Arabic: استطاع (istaʈāʕa) Chinese: 可以 (kěyǐ) Czech: smět Danish: må Dutch: mogen nl(nl) Finnish: voida fi(fi), saada fi(fi) French: pouvoir fr(fr) German: dürfen de(de), mögen de(de), könnten de(de) Greek: μπορώ (boró), επιτρέπεται (epitrépete) Hungarian: szabad hu(hu) Icelandic: mega, mátt Indonesian: boleh / dapat / bisa

Italian: potere it(it) Japanese: してもいい (shité mo íi) Korean: 할 수 있다 (hal su itda) Norwegian: kan, får Persian: تَوانِستَن (tævānestæn) Polish: móc Portuguese: poder pt(pt) Russian: мочь ru(ru) (moč’) Spanish: poder es(es) Swedish: få sv(sv), kunna sv(sv), kan sv(sv) Tagalog: maaari, puwede

possibly, but not certainly

Czech: moci (moct) Danish: måske Dutch: misschien may be He may be lying — Hij liegt misschien Finnish: voida, saattaa French: peut-être, il se peut que + subjunctive He may be lying — Il ment peut-être, Il se peut qu’il mente. Greek: ίσως, μάλλον Hungarian: lehet hu(hu) Icelandic: geta Indonesian: mungkin / barangkali / bisa jadi / bisa saja

Italian: forse, può essere che + subjunctive He may be lying — Forse sta mentendo, Può essere che stia mentendo Japanese: 多分 (たぶん, tábun), かも知れない (かもしれない, kamo shirenai) Norwegian: kan være, also expressed with adv. kanskje He may be lying - Det kan være han lyver/Kanskje han lyver Persian: شایَد (šāyæd) Polish: móc Portuguese: poder Swedish: kan, kanske Tagalog: maaari, puwede

subjunctive

Dutch: mogen come what may - komen wat komen moge French: use subjunctive of pouvoir

Italian: use subjunctive of potere Swedish: må, or rarely, -e

[ Etymology 2

French mai, so called because it blossoms in May.

[ Noun

Singular may

Plural mays

may (plural mays)

1. The hawthorn bush or its blossoms.

[ Derived terms

• Italian may
• mayhaw

[ Translations

the hawthorn bush or its blossom

Bulgarian: глог (glog) m. Finnish: orapihlaja French: aubépine f. German: Weißdornblüte f. Greek: λευκάκανθα (lefkákantha) f.

Italian: biancospino m. Ojibwe: miinensagaawanzh, miinensagaawanzhiig pl. Portuguese: pirilteiro m., estrepeiro m. Russian: боярышник (bojáryšnik) m., боярышники (bojáryšniki) pl. Spanish: espino m., marzoleto m.

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[ Crimean Tatar

[ Noun

may

1. butter, oil

[ Declension

Nominative may

Genitive maynıñ

Dative mayğa

Accusative maynı

Locative mayda

Ablative maydan

[ Synonyms

• yağ

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[ Kurdish

[ Noun

may m.

1. intervention

[ Derived terms

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

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[ Tagalog

[ Verb

may

1. there is

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[ Tatar

• Month of thee Year: may
  • Previous: äpril
  • Next: yün

[ Alternative spellings

• май

[ Noun

may

1. May

[ Declension

Nominative may

Genitive maynıñ

Dative mayga

Accusative maynı

Locative mayda

Ablative maydan