Word: may Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English magen, mauen, mawe, mawen, mayen, maȝen, mouin, mow, mowen, moȝen, mugen, from Old English magan, from Proto-West Germanic *magan, from Proto-Germanic *maganą (“to be able, may”), from Proto-Indo-European *(me)mógʰe (“to be able”), from *megʰ- (“to be able”). Cognates Cognate with Scots mey (“may”), Yola ma, maa, mai, mey, mye (“may”), North Frisian mai, mei, mooge (“like to, would”), West Frisian meie (“may; to like”), Alemannic German möge (“may; can”), Bavarian megn (“to like; to want to”), Central Franconian mugge (“to like; may”), Cimbrian mögan, möng (“may”), Dutch mogen (“to be allowed; may; to like”), German and Low German mögen (“to like; would like; may”), Yiddish מעגן (megn, “may”), Danish måtte (“have to; may”), Faroese and Icelandic mega (“may; must”), Norwegian Bokmål måtta (“may; must”), Norwegian Nynorsk måtta, måtte (“may; must”), Swedish må (“may; must”), Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌲𐌰𐌽 (magan, “to be able, can, may”); also Irish smacht (“ordinance, regulation, rule; dominion, sway; control, discipline, restraint; fine, penalty”), Lithuanian mėgti (“to like”), Belarusian магчы́ (mahčý, “to be able”), Bulgarian мо́га (móga, “to be able”), Czech moci (“to be able”), Kashubian mòc (“to be able”), Lower Sorbian moc, móc, moz (“to be able”), Macedonian може (može, “to be able”), Pannonian Rusyn мочи (moči, “to be able”), Polish móc (“to be able”), Russian мочь (močʹ, “to be able”), Serbo-Croatian мо̏ћи, mȍći (“to be able”), Slovak môcť (“to be able; be allowed to”), Slovene moči (“to be able”), Slovincian môc (“to be able”), Ukrainian могти́ (mohtý, “to be able”), Persian مغ (moġ, “magus”), Sanskrit मघ (magha, “power, wealth; bounty, gift, reward”). Pronunciation: /meɪ/, /mɛj/, /mæɪ/, /me/, /mei/ 1. To be strong; to have power (over). Labels: intransitive, no-past-participle, no-present-participle, obsolete 2. To be able; can. Labels: auxiliary, no-past-participle, no-present-participle, obsolete Example: But many times[…]we give way to passions we may resist and will not. 3. To be able to go. Labels: intransitive, no-past-participle, no-present-participle, poetic Example: O weary night, O long and tedious night, Abate thy houres, shine comforts from the East, That I may backe to Athens by day-light […]. 4. To have permission to, be allowed. Used in granting permission and in questions to make polite requests. Labels: auxiliary, defective, modal, no-past-participle, no-present-participle Example: you may smoke outside Example: may I sit there? 5. Granting the admissibility of a supposition, in a way that can be semantically either subjunctive or indicative. Labels: auxiliary, defective, modal, no-past-participle, no-present-participle Example: he may be lying Example: Schrödinger's cat may or may not be in the box. 6. Granting the admissibility of a supposition, in a way that can be semantically either subjunctive or indicative. Labels: auxiliary, defective, modal, no-past-participle, no-present-participle Example: You may be my boss, but that doesn't mean you can insult me. Example: A: Sigh. I'm bummed that Stephen Hawking died. B: Well, he may have died, but he's still alive in our hearts. [This speaker does not doubt that Stephen has died; nonetheless, the verb inflection is not different.] 7. Expressing a wish (with present subjunctive effect). Labels: defective, no-past-participle, no-present-participle, poetic, present, subjunctive Example: may you win; may the weather be sunny; long may your reign last Example: Let us pray that peace may soon return to our war-torn homeland. 8. Used in modesty, courtesy, or concession, or to soften a question or remark. Labels: auxiliary, defective, modal, no-past-participle, no-present-participle Example: How old may Phillis be, you ask, / Whose Beauty thus all Hearts engages.