Mayday
[mey-dey]
- the international radiotelephone distress signal, used by ships and aircraft.
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Origin of Mayday
1925–30; < French (venez) m'aider (come) help me!
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
indicatoralarmcuesignbeacongestureinformationwordthreathintnotificationsignaladmonitionpredictionalertguidanceindicationsuggestionrecommendationcautionExamples from the Web for mayday
Contemporary Examples
Also like the Air France disaster, the pilots of AirAsia had no time to issue a mayday call.
Watch what happens at the scene of a blaze when a radio call of “Mayday!”
Launched in May, Mayday PAC has raised nearly $8 million in donations from more than 50,000 contributors.
Another serious challenge to the Zombie Theory is the absence of any Mayday call from the pilots.
After their last routine exchange with controllers the pilots never sent any Mayday or distress message.
Historical Examples
Jarvis is put up for Cumberland, we hope he will be there by or before Mayday.
Diary of Anna Green WinslowAnna Green Winslow
Please, auntie says—will you try a piece of our Mayday cake?
Five TalesJohn Galsworthy
So that, by "Mayday, 1747," the name was in all men's memories; and has continued ever since.
History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Vol. XVI. (of XXI.)Thomas Carlyle
Somebody pick up our Mayday while we were cruising submerged?
Four-Day PlanetHenry Beam Piper
Then there used to be the shooting at the butts, and the shows, and the Mayday revels, and all sorts of things.
The Lion of Saint MarkG. A. Henty
Mayday
- the international radiotelephone distress signal
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Word Origin
C20: phonetic spelling of French m'aidez help me
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for mayday
"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 transmitting sets on their planes, instead of telegraph sets, have been puzzling over the problem of choosing a distress call for transmission by voice. The letters SOS wouldn't do, and just plain "help!" was not liked, and so "May Day" was chosen. This was thought particularly fitting since it sounds very much like the French m'aidez, which means "help me." ["The Wireless Age," June 1923]
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper