mayst
- 2nd person singular present indicative of may1.
may1
- (used to express possibility): It may rain.
- (used to express opportunity or permission): You may enter.
- (used to express contingency, especially in clauses indicating condition, concession, purpose, result, etc.): I may be wrong but I think you would be wise to go. Times may change but human nature stays the same.
- (used to express wish or prayer): May you live to an old age.
- Archaic. (used to express ability or power.)
Origin of may1
Usage note
Examples from the Web for mayst
Historical Examples
Who has said, with grateful lips, "Mayst thou flow on for ever?"
Hence the proverbial curse: "Mayst thou have an equal at home."
Dante. An essay.R. W. Church
"And so mayst thou," called out a voice from among the violins.
Spanish Highways and BywaysKatharine Lee Bates
Is it that thou, too, even as I, mayst be persecuted with false accusations?'
The Consolation of PhilosophyBoethius
Thou, the descendant of kings, mayst not longer dwell with slaves.
mayst
mayest
- archaic, or dialect (used with the pronoun thou or its relative equivalent) a singular form of the present tense of may 1
May1
- the fifth month of the year, consisting of 31 days
Word Origin
May2
- Robert McCredie, Baron. born 1936, Australian biologist and ecologist
may1
- to indicate that permission is requested by or granted to someonehe may go to the park tomorrow if he behaves himself
- (often foll by well) to indicate possibilitythe rope may break; he may well be a spy
- to indicate ability or capacity, esp in questionsmay I help you?
- to express a strong wishlong may she reign
- to indicate result or purpose: used only in clauses introduced by that or so thathe writes so that the average reader may understand
- another word for might 1
- to express courtesy in a questionwhose child may this little girl be?
- be that as it may in spite of that: a sentence connector conceding the possible truth of a previous statement and introducing an adversative clausebe that as it may, I still think he should come
- come what may whatever happens
- that's as may be (foll by a clause introduced by but) that may be so
Word Origin
usage
may2
- an archaic word for maiden
Word Origin
may3
- Also: may tree a Brit name for hawthorn
- short for may blossom
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for mayst
may
v.1
Old English mæg "am able" (infinitive magan, past tense meahte, mihte), from Proto-Germanic root *mag-, infinitive *maganan (Old Frisian mei/muga/machte "have power, may;" Old Saxon mag/mugan/mahte; Middle Dutch mach/moghen/mohte; Dutch mag/mogen/mocht; Old High German mag/magan/mahta; German mag/mögen/mochte; Old Norse ma/mega/matte; Gothic mag/magan/mahte "to be able"), from PIE *magh- (1) "to be able, have power" (cf. Greek mekhos, makhos "means, instrument," Old Church Slavonic mogo "to be able," mosti "power, force," Sanskrit mahan "great"). Also used in Old English as a "auxiliary of prediction."
May
fifth month, early 12c., from Old French mai and directly from Latin Majus, Maius mensis "month of May," possibly from Maja, Maia, a Roman earth goddess (wife of Vulcan) whose name is of unknown origin; possibly from PIE *mag-ya "she who is great," fem. suffixed form of root *meg- "great" (cognate with Latin magnus). Replaced Old English þrimilce, month in which cows can be milked three times a day. May marriages have been considered unlucky at least since Ovid's day. May-apple attested from 1733, American English.
may
v.2
"to take part in May Day festivities," late 15c., from May. Related: Mayed; maying.
Idioms and Phrases with mayst
may
see be that as it may; come what may; let the chips fall where they may; to whom it may concern.