may

ISO 639-2/B language code for Malay.

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.

• you may smoke outside
• may I sit there?
• May we request that patrons kindly take their seats.

Granting the admissibility of a supposition, in a way that can be semantically either subjunctive or indicative. Expressing a present possibility; possibly.

• he may be lying
• Schrödinger's cat may or may not be in the box.
• Sam may be intelligent, but he isn't wise. [This speaker does not know with certainty whether Sam is intelligent, but the speaker allows the possibility.]

Expressing a present possibility; possibly.

• he may be lying
• Schrödinger's cat may or may not be in the box.
• Sam may be intelligent, but he isn't wise. [This speaker does not know with certainty whether Sam is intelligent, but the speaker allows the possibility.]

Expressing a disjunctive or contrastive relation between indicative statements.

• You may be my boss, but that doesn't mean you can insult me.
• 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.]

Expressing a wish (with present subjunctive effect).

• may you win;  may the weather be sunny;  long may your reign last
• Let us pray that peace may soon return to our war-torn homeland.

Used in modesty, courtesy, or concession, or to soften a question or remark.

The hawthorn bush or its blossoms.

• Mays come into flower in May.

To gather may, or flowers in general.

To celebrate May Day.

A maiden.