May,

6 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  May \May\ (m[=a]), v. [imp. {Might} (m[imac]t)] [AS. pres. maeg
     I am able, pret. meahte, mihte; akin to D. mogen, G.
     m["o]gen, OHG. mugan, magan, Icel. mega, Goth. magan, Russ.
     moche. [root]103. Cf. {Dismay}, {Main} strength, {Might}. The
     old imp. mought is obsolete, except as a provincial word.]
     An auxiliary verb qualifying the meaning of another verb, by


     expressing:
     (a) Ability, competency, or possibility; -- now oftener
         expressed by {can}.
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               How may a man, said he, with idle speech,
               Be won to spoil the castle of his health!
                                                    --Spenser.
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               For what he [the king] may do is of two kinds; what
               he may do as just, and what he may do as possible.
                                                    --Bacon.
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               For of all sad words of tongue or pen
               The saddest are these: "It might have been."
                                                    --Whittier.
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     (b) Liberty; permission; allowance.
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               Thou mayst be no longer steward.     --Luke xvi. 2.
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     (c) Contingency or liability; possibility or probability.
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               Though what he learns he speaks, and may advance
               Some general maxims, or be right by chance. --Pope.
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     (d) Modesty, courtesy, or concession, or a desire to soften a
         question or remark.
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               How old may Phillis be, you ask.     --Prior.
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     (e) Desire or wish, as in prayer, imprecation, benediction,
         and the like. "May you live happily." --Dryden.
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     {May be}, & {It may be}, are used as equivalent to
        {possibly}, {perhaps}, {maybe}, {by chance},
        {peradventure}. See 1st {Maybe}.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  May \May\, n. [Cf. Icel. maer, Goth. mawi; akin to E. maiden.
     [root]103.]
     A maiden. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  May \May\, n. [F. Mai, L. Maius; so named in honor of the
     goddess Maia (Gr. Mai^a), daughter of Atlas and mother of
     Mercury by Jupiter.]
     1. The fifth month of the year, containing thirty-one days.
        --Chaucer.
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     2. The early part or springtime of life.
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              His May of youth, and bloom of lustihood. --Shak.
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     3. (Bot.) The flowers of the hawthorn; -- so called from
        their time of blossoming; also, the hawthorn.
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              The palm and may make country houses gay. --Nash.
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              Plumes that mocked the may.           --Tennyson.
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     4. The merrymaking of May Day. --Tennyson.
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     {Italian may} (Bot.), a shrubby species of {Spiraea}
        ({Spiraea hypericifolia}) with many clusters of small
        white flowers along the slender branches.
  
     {May apple} (Bot.), the fruit of an American plant
        ({Podophyllum peltatum}). Also, the plant itself
        (popularly called {mandrake}), which has two lobed leaves,
        and bears a single egg-shaped fruit at the forking. The
        root and leaves, used in medicine, are powerfully drastic.
        
  
     {May beetle}, {May bug} (Zool.), any one of numerous species
        of large lamellicorn beetles that appear in the winged
        state in May. They belong to {Melolontha}, and allied
        genera. Called also {June beetle}.
  
     {May Day}, the first day of May; -- celebrated in the rustic
        parts of England by the crowning of a May queen with a
        garland, and by dancing about a May pole.
  
     {May dew}, the morning dew of the first day of May, to which
        magical properties were attributed.
  
     {May flower} (Bot.), a plant that flowers in May; also, its
        blossom. See {Mayflower}, in the vocabulary.
  
     {May fly} (Zool.), any species of {Ephemera}, and allied
        genera; -- so called because the mature flies of many
        species appear in May. See {Ephemeral fly}, under
        {Ephemeral}.
  
     {May game}, any May-day sport.
  
     {May lady}, the queen or lady of May, in old May games.
  
     {May lily} (Bot.), the lily of the valley ({Convallaria
        majalis}).
  
     {May pole}. See {Maypole} in the Vocabulary.
  
     {May queen}, a girl or young woman crowned queen in the
        sports of May Day.
  
     {May thorn}, the hawthorn.
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From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  May
       n 1: the month following April and preceding June
       2: thorny Eurasian shrub of small tree having dense clusters of
          white to scarlet flowers followed by deep red berries;
          established as an escape in eastern North America [syn: {whitethorn},
           {English hawthorn}, {Crataegus laevigata}, {Crataegus
          oxycantha}]

From U.S. Gazetteer (1990) [gazetteer]:

  May, OK (town, FIPS 47000)
    Location: 36.61650 N, 99.74896 W
    Population (1990): 42 (34 housing units)
    Area: 0.5 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
    Zip code(s): 73851
  May, TX
    Zip code(s): 76857

From U.S. Gazetteer Places (2000) [gaz-place]:

  May, OK -- U.S. town in Oklahoma
     Population (2000):    33
     Housing Units (2000): 27
     Land area (2000):     0.179778 sq. miles (0.465622 sq. km)
     Water area (2000):    0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km)
     Total area (2000):    0.179778 sq. miles (0.465622 sq. km)
     FIPS code:            47000
     Located within:       Oklahoma (OK), FIPS 40
     Location:             36.616536 N, 99.749363 W
     ZIP Codes (1990):     73851
     Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.
     Headwords:
      May, OK
      May