may
Meanings
Plural: mays
Noun
- the month following April and preceding June
- 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
- The hawthorn bush or its blossoms.
- A maiden.
Verb
- To be strong; to have power (over).
- To be able; can.
- To be able to go.
- To have permission to, be allowed. Used in granting permission and in questions to make polite requests.
- Granting the admissibility of a supposition, in a way that can be semantically either subjunctive or indicative.
- Expressing a present possibility; possibly.
- Granting the admissibility of a supposition, in a way that can be semantically either subjunctive or indicative.
- Expressing a disjunctive or contrastive relation between indicative statements.
- Expressing a wish (with present subjunctive effect).
- Used in modesty, courtesy, or concession, or to soften a question or remark.
- To gather may, or flowers in general.
- To celebrate May Day.
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English mowen, mayen, moȝen, maȝen, from Old English magan, from Proto-West Germanic *magan, from Proto-Germanic *maganą, from Proto-Indo-European *megʰ-.
Cognate with Dutch mag (“may”, first- and third-person singular of mogen (“to be able to, be allowed to, may”)), Low German mögen, German mag (“like”, first- and third-person singular of mögen (“to like, want, require”)), Swedish må, Icelandic mega, megum. See also might.
Synonyms
can, could, Crataegus laevigata, Crataegus oxycantha, English hawthorn, might, whitethorn
Scrabble Score: 8
may is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL wordmay is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
may is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary