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Origin and history of may

may(v.1)

Old English mæg "am able" (infinitive magan, past tense meahte, mihte), from Proto-Germanic root *mag-, infinitive *maganan (Old Frisian mei/muga/machte "have power, may;" Old Saxon mag/mugan/mahte; Middle Dutch mach/moghen/mohte; Dutch mag/mogen/mocht; Old High German mag/magan/mahta; German mag/mögen/mochte; Old Norse ma/mega/matte; Gothic mag/magan/mahte "to be able"), from PIE root *magh- "to be able, have power." A present-preterit verb (with can, shall, etc.). Also used in Old English as a "auxiliary of prediction."

May

fifth month of the modern calendar, early 12c., Mai, from Old French mai and directly from Latin Majus, Maius mensis "month of May," possibly from Maja, Maia, a Roman earth goddess (wife of Vulcan) whose name is of unknown origin; possibly from PIE *mag-ya "she who is great," fem. suffixed form of root *meg- "great" (cognate with Latin magnus).

"[R]eckoned on the continent of Europe and in America as the last month of spring, but in Great Britain as the first of summer" [Century Dictionary, 1897]. The name replaced Old English þrimilce, month in which cows can be milked three times a day. May marriages have been considered unlucky at least since Ovid's day. May-apple, perennial herb native to North America, so called for its time of blooming and its yellowish fruit, is attested from 1733, American English.

may(v.2)

"to celebrate May Day, to take part in May Day festivities," late 15c., from May. Maying as "the observance of May Day with all its sports and games" is attested from late 14c. (maiing).

And as a vapour, or a drop of raine
Once lost, can ne'r be found againe:
                    So when or you or I are made
                    A fable, song, or fleeting shade;
                    All love, all liking, all delight
                    Lies drown'd with us in endlesse night.
Then while time serves, and we are but decaying;
Come, my Corinna, come, let's goe a Maying.
[Robert Herrick, "Corinna's Going a-Maying," 1648] 

also from late 15c.

Entries linking to may

May Day

"first of May," on which the opening of the season of flowers and fruit formerly was celebrated throughout Europe, mid-13c.; see May + day (n.). May Queen "girl or young woman crowned with flowers and honored as queen at the games held on May Day," seems to be a Victorian re-invented tradition; the phrase Queen of Maij is attested from c. 1500.

May Day's association with communism (and socialism and anarchism) dates to 1890. A U.S. general strike for an eight-hour workday began May 1, 1886, and culminated in the Haymarket bombing affair in Chicago on May 4. By 1890 strikes, protests, and rallies were being held in Europe by socialist and labor organizations on May 1, at first in support of the eight-hour day, more or less in commemoration of the 1886 strike.

maybe(adv.)

"perhaps, possibly," early 15c., from (it) may be; see may (v.1) + be (v.). In early 19c. still sometimes written as two words. As a noun, "something that may be or happen," 1580s.

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might
Old English mihte, meahte, originally the past tense of may (Old English magen "to be able"), thus "*may-ed." The noun might-have-been "something that might have happened but did not," also "someone that might have been greater but wasn't," is by 1848...."quality of being able, a
owe
Old English agan (past tense ahte) "to have, to own," from Proto-Germanic *aiganan "to possess" (source also of Old Frisian aga "have to, ought to," Old Norse eiga, Old High German eigan, Gothic aigan "to possess, have"), from PIE root *aik- "be master of, possess." The original
shall
Old English sceal, Northumbrian scule "I owe/he owes, will have to, ought to, must" (infinitive sculan, past tense sceolde), from *skulanan, a common Germanic preterite-present verb (along with can, may, will), from Proto-Germanic *skul- (source also of Old Saxon sculan, Old Fris
ostensible
Ostensible is, literally, that may be or is held out as true, real, actual, or intended, but may or may not be so: thus,...motive for some action is the motive that appears to the observer, and is held out to him as the real motive, which it may...or may not be....
self-denial
Self-denial is to be presumed wise, necessary, or benevolent, unless indication is given to the contrary ; it may be the...denial of selfishness; it may be not only the refusal to take what one might have, but the voluntary surrender of what one...has ; it may be an act, a habit, or a principle....
bung
uncertain origin, perhaps from Middle Dutch bonge "stopper;" or perhaps from French bonde "bung, bunghole" (15c.), which may...be of Germanic origin (or the Germanic words may be borrowed from Romanic), or it may be from Gaulish *bunda (compare Old...
non-viable
It is an established fact, that under the fifth month no foetus can be born alive—from the fifth to the seventh it may come...We may designate them non-rearable, or more properly immature—in distinction to those between the seventh and the ninth month..., which may be reared, and are termed premature....
Amy
fem. proper name, from Old French Amee, literally "beloved," from fem. past participle of amer "to love," from Latin amare "to love, be in love with; find pleasure in," Proto-Italic *ama- "to take, hold," from a PIE root meaning "take hold of," also the source of Sanskrit amisi,
Memorial Day
"day on which a memorial is made," by 1819, of any anniversary date, especially a religious anniversary; see memorial (adj.). As a specific end-of-May holiday commemorating U.S. war dead, it began informally in the late 1860s and originally commemorated the Northern soldiers kill
mayday
international radio-telephone distress call, 1923, apparently an Englished spelling of French m'aider, shortening of venez m'aider "come help me!" But possibly a random coinage with coincidental resemblance: "May Day" Is Airplane SOS ENGLISH aviators who use radio telephone tr

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