May

v.	1.	An auxiliary verb qualifying the meaning of another verb, [imp. Might (mīt)] How may a man, said he, with idle speech, Be won to spoil the castle of his health! - Spenser. 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. For of all sad words of tongue or pen The saddest are these: "It might have been." - Whittier.
	2.	Liberty; permission; allowance. Thou mayst be no longer steward. - Luke xvi. 2.
	3.	Contingency or liability; possibility or probability. Though what he learns he speaks, and may advance Some general maxims, or be right by chance. - Pope.
	4.	Modesty, courtesy, or concession, or a desire to soften a question or remark. How old may Phillis be, you ask. - Prior.
	5.	Desire or wish, as in prayer, imprecation, benediction, and the like. May be are used as equivalent to possibly, perhaps, maybe, by chance, peradventure. See 1st Maybe.
n.	1.	A maiden.
	1.	The fifth month of the year, containing thirty-one days.
	2.	The early part or springtime of life. His May of youth, and bloom of lustihood. - Shak.
	3.	(Bot.) The flowers of the hawthorn; - so called from their time of blossoming; also, the hawthorn. The palm and may make country houses gay. - Nash. Plumes that mocked the may. - Tennyson.
	4.	The merrymaking of May Day. Italian may (Bot.) a shrubby species of Spiræa (Spiræa 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 (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.

Noun	1.	May - the month following April and preceding June
	2.	may - 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 Synonyms: Crataegus laevigata, Crataegus oxycantha, whitethorn, English hawthorn

MAY. To be permitted; to be at liberty; to have the power.
     2. Whenever a statute directs the doing of a thing for the sake of justice or the public good, the word may is the same as shall. For example, the 23 H. VI. says, the sheriff may take bail, that is construed he shall, for he is compellable to do so. Carth. 293 Salk. 609; Skin. 370.
     3. The words shall and may in general acts of the legislature or in private constitutions, are to be construed imperatively; 3. Atk. 166; but the construction of those words in a deed depends on circumstances. 3 Atk. 282. See 1 Vern. 152, case. 142 9 Porter, R. 390.

To dream of the month of May, signifies prosperity and times of pleasure.Armed Forces Day, Commonwealth Day, Decoration Day, Empire day, First of May, Gregorian calendar, Gregorian calendar month, May 1, May 24, May Day, Memorial Day, mid-May, Mother's Day, New Style calendar, spring, springtime

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