Mayday

[mey-dey]

noun

the international radiotelephone distress signal, used by ships and aircraft.

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. 2019

Related Words for mayday

indicator, alarm, cue, sign, beacon, gesture, information, word, threat, hint, notification, signal, admonition, prediction, alert, guidance, indication, suggestion, recommendation, caution

Examples from the Web for mayday

Contemporary Examples of mayday

Also like the Air France disaster, the pilots of AirAsia had no time to issue a mayday call.
Did Bad Weather Bring Down AirAsia 8501?
Clive Irving
December 29, 2014
Watch what happens at the scene of a blaze when a radio call of “Mayday!”
Why the White Americans Got the ‘Secret’ Ebola Serum
Michael Daly
August 8, 2014
Launched in May, Mayday PAC has raised nearly $8 million in donations from more than 50,000 contributors.
George Takei Sets Phasers to Reform
Tim Mak
July 15, 2014
Another serious challenge to the Zombie Theory is the absence of any Mayday call from the pilots.
Passenger Flights Must Stop Carrying Lithium-Ion Batteries as Cargo
Clive Irving
May 5, 2014
After their last routine exchange with controllers the pilots never sent any Mayday or distress message.
The Baseless Rush to Blame the Pilots of Flight 370
Clive Irving
March 16, 2014

Historical Examples of mayday

Jarvis is put up for Cumberland, we hope he will be there by or before Mayday.
Diary of Anna Green Winslow
Anna Green Winslow
Please, auntie says—will you try a piece of our Mayday cake?
Five Tales
John 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 Planet
Henry 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 Mark
G. A. Henty

British Dictionary definitions for mayday

Mayday

noun

the international radiotelephone distress signal

Word Origin for Mayday

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]