Middle English

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Etymology 1

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From Old English magan, from Proto-West Germanic *magan, from Proto-Germanic *maganą.

Most forms are from an Old English by-form *mugan (no doubt due to the analogy of dugan).

Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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mowen (third-person singular simple present may, present participle mowynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative myghte, past participle mowen)

  1. To be strong or powerful.
  2. (auxiliary) To be able to; to have the capability (to do); can.
  3. (auxiliary) To potentially be able (to do); might.
    • 1407, The Testimony of William Thorpe, pages 40–41:
      Maister Ion Aston taughte and wroot acordingli and ful bisili, where and whanne and to whom he myghte, and he vsid it himsilf, I gesse, right perfyghtli vnto his lyues eende. [] "
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
  4. (auxiliary) To be permitted (to do); may.
  5. (auxiliary) To ought (to do); should.
  6. (auxiliary) Will, would.
  7. (auxiliary) As a syntactic marker.
Usage notes
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As in Modern English, what are historically the past forms of this verb are frequently used with present or even future semantics.

Conjugation
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Descendants
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  • English: may
  • Scots: mey, may, ma
  • Yola: mye, mey, mai, maa, ma, meigh
References
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Etymology 2

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From Old English māwan, from Proto-West Germanic *māan, from Proto-Germanic *mēaną.

Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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mowen (third-person singular simple present moweth, present participle mowynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative mew, past participle mowen)

  1. To mow; to cut or slice off (the tops) of grasses or stalks.
  2. To collect crops using a scythe or similar implement.
Conjugation
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Derived terms
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Descendants
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References
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