from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
May \May\, n. [F. Mai, L. Maius; so named in honor of the
goddess Maia (Gr. Mai^a), daughter of Atlas and mother of
Mercury by Jupiter.]
1. The fifth month of the year, containing thirty-one days.
--Chaucer.
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2. The early part or springtime of life.
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His May of youth, and bloom of lustihood. --Shak.
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3. (Bot.) The flowers of the hawthorn; -- so called from
their time of blossoming; also, the hawthorn.
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The palm and may make country houses gay. --Nash.
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Plumes that mocked the may. --Tennyson.
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4. The merrymaking of May Day. --Tennyson.
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{Italian may} (Bot.), a shrubby species of {Spiraea}
({Spiraea hypericifolia}) with many clusters of small
white flowers along the slender branches.
{May apple} (Bot.), the fruit of an American plant
({Podophyllum peltatum}). Also, the plant itself
(popularly called {mandrake}), which has two lobed leaves,
and bears a single egg-shaped fruit at the forking. The
root and leaves, used in medicine, are powerfully drastic.
{May beetle}, {May bug} (Zool.), any one of numerous species
of large lamellicorn beetles that appear in the winged
state in May. They belong to {Melolontha}, and allied
genera. Called also {June beetle}.
{May Day}, the first day of May; -- celebrated in the rustic
parts of England by the crowning of a May queen with a
garland, and by dancing about a May pole.
{May dew}, the morning dew of the first day of May, to which
magical properties were attributed.
{May flower} (Bot.), a plant that flowers in May; also, its
blossom. See {Mayflower}, in the vocabulary.
{May fly} (Zool.), any species of {Ephemera}, and allied
genera; -- so called because the mature flies of many
species appear in May. See {Ephemeral fly}, under
{Ephemeral}.
{May game}, any May-day sport.
{May lady}, the queen or lady of May, in old May games.
{May lily} (Bot.), the lily of the valley ({Convallaria
majalis}).
{May pole}. See {Maypole} in the Vocabulary.
{May queen}, a girl or young woman crowned queen in the
sports of May Day.
{May thorn}, the hawthorn.
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