different between may vs marry

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: m?, IPA^(key): /me?/
• Rhymes: -e?

Etymology 1

From Middle English mowen, mayen, mo?en, ma?en, from Old English magan, from Proto-West Germanic *magan, from Proto-Germanic *magan?, from Proto-Indo-European *meg?-.

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.

Verb

may (third-person singular simple present may, no present participle, simple past might, no past participle)

1. (obsolete, intransitive) To be strong; to have power (over). [8th–17th c.]
2. (obsolete, auxiliary) To be able; can. [8th–17th c.]
3. (intransitive, poetic) To be able to go. [from 9th c.]
4. (modal auxiliary verb, defective) To have permission to, be allowed. Used in granting permission and in questions to make polite requests. [from 9th c.]

   Synonyms: can, could, might

5. (modal auxiliary verb, defective) Expressing a present possibility; possibly. [from 13th c.]

   Synonyms: could, might

6. (subjunctive present, defective) Expressing a wish (with present subjunctive effect). [from 16th c.]

   Synonym: might

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

Usage notes

• May is now a defective verb. It has no infinitive, no past participle, and no future tense. Forms of to be allowed to are used to replace these missing tenses.
• The simple past (both indicative and subjunctive) of may is might
• The present tense is negated as may not, which can be contracted to mayn't, although this is old-fashioned; the simple past is negated as might not, which can be contracted to mightn't.
• May has archaic second-person singular present forms mayest and mayst.
• Usage of this word in the sense of possibly is considered incorrect by some speakers and writers, as it blurs the meaning of the word in the sense have permission to. These speakers and writers prefer to use the word might instead.
• Conversely, since may not is particularly likely to promote confusion between the senses of "will possibly not" and "is forbidden to," some rules for the drafting of laws and regulations proscribe "may not" and require the use of "must not" or similar for clarity. Example: [2]
• Wishes are often cast in the imperative rather than the subjunctive mood, not using the word may, as in Have a great day! rather than May you have a great day. The use of may for this purpose may lend a more formal, literary, or solemn feeling (perhaps jocularly so) to the wish. Moreover, wishes in the subjunctive need not use may if the meaning is clear without it, which is the case mainly for established expressions in the third-person singular such as God help you.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• Appendix:English modal verbs
• Appendix:English tag questions

Etymology 2

French mai, so called because it blossoms in the month of May.

Noun

may (uncountable)

1. The hawthorn bush or its blossoms.

Derived terms

• Italian may
• mayhaw

Translations

Verb

may (third-person singular simple present mays, present participle maying, simple past and past participle mayed)

1. (poetic, intransitive) To gather may, or flowers in general.
2. (poetic, intransitive) To celebrate May Day.

Etymology 3

Shortening of maid, from maiden.

Noun

may (plural mays)

1. (archaic) A maiden.

Anagrams

• Amy, MYA, Mya, Yam, mya, yam

Azerbaijani

Noun

may (definite accusative may?, plural maylar)

1. May

Declension

See also

• (Gregorian calendar months) ay; yanvar, fevral, mart, aprel, may, iyun, iyul, avqust, sentyabr, oktyabr, noyabr, dekabr ^{(Category: az:Months)}

Bikol Central

Verb

may

1. there is
2. to have

Synonyms

• igwa

Antonyms

• mayo
• wara

Crimean Tatar

Noun

may

1. butter, oil

Declension

Synonyms

• ya?

Kalasha

Determiner

may

1. my

Pronoun

may

1. me

Mapudungun

Adverb

may (using Raguileo Alphabet)

1. yes

References

• Wixaleyiñ: Mapucezugun-wigkazugun pici hemvlcijka (Wixaleyiñ: Small Mapudungun-Spanish dictionary), Beretta, Marta; Cañumil, Dario; Cañumil, Tulio, 2008.

Northern Kurdish

Noun

may m

1. intervention

Derived terms

• mayê xwe tê dan
• maytêder
• maytêderî
• maytêker
• maytêkerî
• mayê xwe tê kirin

Quechua

Adverb

may

1. where
2. like, how, very

Derived terms

• maykama
• mayman
• maymanta
• maypi

See also

• may may

Pronoun

may

1. (interrogative pronoun) which

Verb

may

1. (transitive) to fear

Conjugation

Tagalog

Particle

may

1. particle used as an existential marker

   Antonym: wala

Synonyms

• mayroon
• meron

Tatar

Alternative forms

• ??? (may)

Noun

may

1. May (Month of the Year)

Declension

See also

• Previous: äpril. * Next: yün

Uzbek

Etymology

From Russian ??? (maj), from Latin m?ius.

Noun

may (plural maylar)

1. May

Declension

Related terms

• (Gregorian calendar months) oy; yanvar, fevral, mart, aprel, may, iyun, iyul, avgust, sentabr, oktabr, noyabr, dekabr ^{(Category: uz:Months)}

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà N?i) IPA^(key): [maj??]
• (Hu?) IPA^(key): [maj??]
• (H? Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ma(?)j??]

Etymology 1

Cognate with Muong b?l.

Verb

may • (????, ????, ????, ????)

1. to sew

Derived terms

See also

• khâu

Etymology 2

Adjective

may • (?, ?, ????, ????, ????, ????, ????)

1. lucky

   Synonym: hên

Derived terms

Walloon

Etymology

From Old French mai, from Latin M?ius.

Noun

may

1. May (month)

See also

• (Gregorian calendar months) djanvî, fevrî, måss, avri, may, djun, djulete, awousse, setimbe, octôbe, nôvimbe, decimbe ^{(Category: wa:Months)}

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?mæ??/
• (General American) enPR: m?r??
  • (Mary–marry–merry distinction) IPA^(key): /?mæ?i/
  • (Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA^(key): /?m??i/, /?me?i/
• (Mary–marry–merry distinction)
• (Mary–marry–merry merger)
• Rhymes: -æri
• Homophones: Mary, merry (Mary–marry–merry merger)
• Hyphenation: mar?ry

Etymology 1

From Middle English marien, borrowed from Anglo-Norman, Old French marier, from Latin mar?t?re (“to wed”), from mar?tus (“husband, suitor”), from m?s, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *méryos (“young man”), same source as Sanskrit ???? (márya, “suitor, young man”). Compare its feminine derivatives: Welsh morwyn (“girl”), merch (“daughter”), Crimean Gothic marzus (“wedding”), Ancient Greek ?????? (meîrax, “boy; girl”), Lithuanian martì (“bride”), Avestan ????????????????????????????? (maⁱriia, “yeoman”).) Displaced native Old English h?wian.

Verb

marry (third-person singular simple present marries, present participle marrying, simple past and past participle married)

1. (intransitive) To enter into the conjugal or connubial state; to take a husband or a wife. [from 14th c.]

   Neither of her daughters showed any desire to marry.

   • 1641, Evelyn, Diary, quoted in 1869 by Edward J. Wood in The Wedding Day in All Ages and Countries, volume 2, page 241:

     Evelyn, in his "Diary," under date 1641, says that at Haerlem "they showed us a cottage where, they told us, dwelt a woman who had been married to her twenty-fifth husband, and, being now a widow, was prohibited to marry in future; […] "

   • 1755, The Holy Bible, both Old and New Testament, Digested, Illustrated, and Explained, second edition, page 59:

     But Esau, being now forty years of age, took a false step by marrying not only without his parents consent; but with two wives, daughters of the Hittites.

   • 1975 March 17, Marian Christy, "Suzy Chaffee, A Liberated Beauty", The Lebanon Daily News

     If and when Suzy does marry, it will be an open marriage because she's a believer in the "totality" of freedom.
2. (intransitive, with dual subject) To enter into marriage with one another.

   Jack and Jenny married soon after they met.

3. (transitive) To take as husband or wife. [from 15th c.]

   In some cultures, it is acceptable for an uncle to marry his niece.

   His daughter was married some five years ago to a tailor's apprentice.

4. (transitive) To arrange for the marriage of; to give away as wife or husband. [from 14th c.]
   • 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Matthew XXIII:

     The kyngdome of heven is lyke unto a certayne kinge, which maryed his sonne [...].

   He was eager to marry his daughter to a nobleman.

5. (transitive) To unite in wedlock or matrimony; to perform the ceremony of joining spouses; to bring about a marital union according to the laws or customs of a place. [from 16th c.]

   A justice of the peace will marry Jones and Smith.

   • 1715, John Gay, The What D'Ye Call It?

     Tell him that he shall marry the couple himself.
6. (intransitive, figuratively, of inanimate or abstract things) To join or connect. See also marry up.

   There's a big gap here. These two parts don't marry properly.

   I can't connect it, because the plug doesn't marry with the socket.

7. (transitive, figuratively) To unite; to join together into a close union. [from 15th c.]

   The attempt to marry medieval plainsong with speed metal produced interesting results.

   • 2006, Lisa C. Hickman, William Faulkner and Joan Williams: The Romance of Two Writers

     For Faulkner, these years marry professional triumphs and personal disappointments: the Nobel Prize for Literature and an increasingly unlifting depression.

8. (nautical) To place (two ropes) alongside each other so that they may be grasped and hauled on at the same time.
9. (nautical) To join (two ropes) end to end so that both will pass through a block.

Synonyms

Antonyms

• divorce

Derived terms

Related terms

• marriage

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English Marie, referring to Mary, the Virgin Mary. Mid-14th century.

Interjection

marry!

1. (obsolete) indeed!, in truth!; a term of asseveration.
   • c. 1597, William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 2, Act I, Scene 2,^[1]

     I have chequed him for it, and the young lion repents; marry, not in ashes and sackcloth, but in new silk and old sack.

See also

• wed

References

Further reading

• Marriage on Wikipedia.Wikipedia