May-bird 
May-bird (ma'berd), . 1. The bobolink. 
1 1, ral, I", s. ] 2. Tie wood-thrush. [Jamai- 
ca.] 3. The knot or red-breatd sandpiper. 
[South Carolina.] 4. The May-curlew or 
wliiinlnvl. [ Loral, Eng.] 
May-blob (mii'blob), n. Tlie marsh-marigold, 
I '/ill/in /nitii.ilrix. [Prov. Eng.] 
May-bloom (mS'ldiim), . The hawthorn. 
May-blossom (ma'blos'um), . The lily-of- 
thi>-valley. [Prov. Kng.] 
May-bug (nia'bug), . Same as May-beetlCj 1. 
May-bush (ma'bush),H. Tin- hawthorn or white- 
thorn. 
O that I were there. 
To helpen the Ladyes their Maykuth bcare. 
Speraer, Shop. Cal., Uay. 
May-chafer (ma'cha'fer), n. Same as May- 
brrtlr, 1. 
May-cherry (ma'cher'i), n. The June-berry, 
Amelnnrliin' < '<inndcig. 
maycock (mii'kok), n. [< May* + cock 1 .] The 
black-bellied plover, Squatarola helvetica, O. 
Trnmbull. [Massachusetts.] 
maycock-fluke (ma'kok-flok), . A flounder 
or plaice. [Scotch.] 
May-curlew (ma'ker'lu), w. The whimbrel, 
\lllllfllillK ph(tOpUS. 
May-day (ma'ua), . The first day of May: a 
day on which the opening of the season of flow- 
ers and fruit was formerly celebrated through- 
out Europe : it is still marked in some places 
by various festive observances. The chief features 
of the celebration In Great Britain (where, however, it has 
nearly disappeared) are the gathering of hawthorn-blos- 
soms and other (lowers, the crowning of the May-queen, 
dancing round the May-pole, etc. 
Tis as much impossible, 
Unless we sweep 'em from the door with cannons, 
To scatter 'era, as 'tis to make 'em sleep 
On May-day morning. Shak., Hen. VIII., v. 4. 15. 
Against .V"/v </"//. Whitsunday, or some other time of 
the year, every parish, towne, or village assemble them- 
selves, both men, women, and children ; and either all 
together, or dividing themselves into companies, they goe 
some to the woods and groves, some to the hills and 
mountaines, some to one place, some to another, where 
they spend all the night in pleasant pastimes, and in the 
morning; they return, bringing with them birche boughes 
and branches of trees to deck their assemblies withal. 
xtiihbfi, quoted in Strutt's Sports and Pastimes, p. 454. 
maydet, maydent. Obsolete forms of maid, 
ntlliden. 
Maydeae (ma'de-e), n.pl. [NL. (Bentham and 
Hooker, 1883), ^ Mays, the specific name of In- 
dian corn, -I- -ere.] A tribe of grasses belonging 
to the series Panicacete, characterized by the 
unisexual spikolets, of which the staminate is 
terminal. The tribe contains 7 genera and about 15 spe- 
cies, widely dispersed. The most important genus Is Zea, 
the maize or Indian corn. 
May-dew (ma'du), H. The dew of May, which 
is said to have great virtue in whitening linen, 
and to have also other remarkable properties. 
It Is still the practice for young people in some parts of 
Great Britain to go out into the nelds in the morning of 
the first of May, and bathe their faces with May-dew a 
survival of the impression or belief of former times that 
It preserves beauty. 
My wife away down with Jane and W. Hewer to Wool- 
wich, In order to a little ayre and to lie there to-night, 
and so to gather May-dew to-morrow morning, which Mrs. 
Turner hath taught her is the only thing In the world to 
wash her face with. Pepy, Diary, III. 137. 
may-drink (ma'dringk), n. [Tr. Flem. mey- 
ili'mil;, I). HH-iitriiiik, G. maitrank.] A bev- 
erage popular in Belgium and northern Ger- 
many at the season of the flowering of the 
sweet woodruff, Anperula odorata. It is prepared 
by putting sprigs of this plant into a Mask of light white 
wine, and sweetening with sugar. Bits of pineapple or 
orange, or a few fresh leaves of the black currant, are 
sometimes added. 
Mayduke (ma'duk), n. [A corruption of Mtdoc, 
a district near Bordeaux in France, from which 
those cherries were introduced.] A variety of 
cherry of the sour type. 
Mayencian (ma-en si-an), H. [< Mai/ence + 
-tan.] The name given in France and Belgium 
to a division of the Miocene Tertiary typically 
developed in the Mainz (or Mayence) basin. The 
formation consists of marine, brackish, and fresh-wntcr 
deposits, characterized by numerous interesting fossils. 
Part of the Molasse of Switzerland is considered the 
equivalent of the Mayencian. 
Mayer (mii'er), H. [< Kef* + -er 1 .] One who 
goes a mayiug, or takes part in May-day festiv- 
ities. 
On the Mayers deign to smile. 
Mayer's Sony, Hone's Every-day Book, n. 671. 
May-fish (ma'lish). n. The barred or striped 
killilish, Ili/i/riii-i/i/ru mitjitlitt. [New York.] 
May-flower (mfi uou'te)) . A flower that ap- 
pears in May. Snwiilcally (a) In England, the haw. 
thorn or may ; also the oachoo-flower (Cardamine praten- 
si\ the marsh mariK"M (Caltha paliutrix), and, rarely, 
281 
3660 
other plant*. (ft) In the United States, chiefly the trailing 
arbutus, Kviytra repent. See artmlu* and Ejiiytra. (<) In 
the West Indies, Daltteryia Amerimnum uml /-.Vaxr.././, ,/?- 
in in Brownri Hay-flower decoration, in erram. See 
Mayflower porcelain. May-flower porcelain, a name 
given to a variety of porcelain which Is thickly covered 
with may- or hawthorn-blossoms modeled in relief, the 
flowers nearly touching one another, so that the sharp 
edge* form a bristly covering of the whole surface. These 
tinwrrs are colored, and sometimes gilded. This decora- 
tion is almost a specialty of Dresden ware. 
Mayflower compact. *<< compact?. 
May-fly (ma'fli), n. 1. A neuropteroiis insect 
of the family Kphenterida' ; one of the Epheme- 
rina; an epnemerid ; a day-fly. See the tech- 
nical words, and cut under day-fly. 2. In Great 
Britain, a neuropterous insect of the suborder 
Trichvptcra, and especially of the family I'hry- 
ganeid(r, as Sialis lutaria ; the caddis-fly. 
He lores the Man-fly, which is bred of the cod-worm or 
caddis. /. Walton, Complete Angler. 
3. An artificial fly made in imitation of the 
May-fly. 
He makes a May-fly to a miracle, and furnishes th* 
whole country with angle-rods. 
Adduon, Sir Roger and Will Wimble. 
May-fowl (ma'foul), n. The whimbrel. [Lo- 
cal, Eng.] 
May-game (ma'gam), . 1. Sport or play such 
as is usual on or about the first of May ; hence, 
frolic; jest. 
What May -game hath misfortune made of you ? 
Speruer, F. Q., V. vil. 40. 
Send hither all the rural company 
Which deck the May-garnet with their clownish sports ! 
Beaumont, Masque of Inner-Temple. 
A goodly May-game In Fenchurch-street, with drums, 
and guns, and pikes; and with the nine worthies who 
rode, and each of them made his speech, there was also a 
morrice dance, and an elephant and castle, and the Lord 
and Lady of the May preparing to make up the show. 
Strype, quoted In Strutt's Sports and 1'astimes, p. 456. 
2. One who takes part in the May-games or 
May-day sports ; hence, a trifler ; also, one who 
is an object of May-games or jests; a make- 
game. 
Ill make you know me. Set your faces soberly ; 
Stand this way, and look sad ; 111 be no May-game. 
Fletcher, Wildgoose Chase, til. 1. 
Why should not I, a May-yame, scorn the weight 
Ol my sunk fortunes? Ford, Lover's Melancholy, L 2. 
I will laugh at thee, and at myself, 
To have been so much a fool ; you are a fine may-game. 
Shirley, Hyde Park, iii. 2. 
May-garland (ma'gar'land), n. A wreath of 
flowers formerly borne from house to house by 
children on May-day. 
Two In every group carried between them, suspended 
from a stick, the May-garland, formed of two small trans- 
verse willow hoops, decorated with a profusion of prim- 
roses and other flowers, and fresh green foliage. 
The Antiquary, May, 1880. 
mayhap (ma'hap), adv. [Also mayhaps; an el- 
lipsis of it may hap. So also dial, 'mat/happen, 
contr. mappen. Cf. maybe.] Peradventure ; it 
may happen ; perhaps. 
"Mayhap there Is more meant than is aald in it," quoth 
my father. Sterne, Tristram Shandy, iii. 37. 
Mayhap his eye brightened as he heard 
The song grow louder and the hall they neared. 
William Morris, Earthly Paradise, in. 100. 
May-haw (ma'ha), . A small tree, Crattegus 
asHvalts, of the southern United States. Its 
fruit, which ripens in May, is used for preserves, 
jellies, etc. Also apple-haw. 
mayhem (ma'hem), n. [Formerly also maiheme; 
an earlier form of maim, retained archaically 
in legal use: see maim, .] At common lair, a 
crime consisting in the violent doing of a bodily 
hurt to another person, such as renders him less 
able in fighting either to defend himself or to 
annoy his adversary, as distinguished from 
one which merely disfigures. See maim. 
May-hill (ma'hil), . A period of difficulty or 
danger; a critical juncture ; crisis: in allusion 
to the opinion that May is a trying month for 
invalids To climb up May-hill, to get through the 
month of May safely ; hence, to pass the crisis or critical 
or difficult part 
Whereas in our remembrance Ale went out when Swal- 
lows came in, seldom appearing after Easter, it now hopeth 
(having climbed up May hill} to continue Its course all the 
year. Fuller, Worthies, Derbyshire, I. 25i (Dana.) 
maying (ma'ing), H. [Verbal n. of May 4 , r.] 
The observance of May-day, and the sports and 
games indulged in on that occasion. 
Now it befell In the moneth of lusty May that nueene 
Gnenever called unto her the knyghtesof the round table, 
and gave them warning that, early in the morning, she 
should ride on maitiit't into the woods and fields beside 
Westminster. fhe'Dcath <>/ Arthur, quoted In Strutt's 
(Sports and Pastimes, p. 460. 
Come, my Corinna, come, let's go A-Maying. 
Uerrict, To Corinna. 
mayoress 
May-lady (ma'la'di), . The quern or ladyof 
the May, in old May-gam* -. 
Some light huswife, belike, tht was dressed like* Mat/- 
lady, and, as most of our gentlewomen are, wm> more so- 
lirltims of her head tiers than of her health. 
Burton, Anat. of Mel., p. 47:i 
May-lily (ma'lil'i), . The lily-of-the-valli-y. 
Conritllaria majalis. 
May-lord (ma'16rd), / . A young man chosen to 
preside over the festivities of May-day. [Prov. 
Eng.] 
The shepherd boys who with the muses dwell 
Met In the plain their may-lards new to choose 
(For two they yearly choose), to order well 
Their rural sports the year that next ensues. 
P. Fletcher, Purple Island, L i, 
May-morn (ma'mom), . [< ME. nuiu-morne.] 
The morning of May-day; figuratively, fresh- 
ness; vigor. Compare May-dew. 
My thrice-puissant liege 
Is In the very May-morn of his youth. 
Ripe for exploits. .VAo*., Hen. V., L 2. IB). 
maynt, mayne't, . Obsolete forms of maini. 
mayne-t, maynyt, . Same as meiny. 
mayonnaise (ma-on-az'), . [< F. mayonnaise, 
a sauce (see def.) ; origin uncertain. See the 
quotation.] In cookery, a sauce composed 'of 
yolks of eggs and salad-oil beaten together 
with vinegar or lemon-juice to the consistency 
of thick cream, and seasoned with salt, pepper, 
garlic, etc. It is an esteemed dressing for 
salads, cold fish, and some other dishes. 
I was told by a French friend at Dax. In the Lande*, 
that the proper way of pronouncing the word mayonnaite 
was bayonnaue, Bayonne being the birthplace of that now 
world-famed salad. N. and Q., 7th ser., II. 174. 
mayor (ma'or or mar: see etym.), . [Early 
mod. E. matr, maire, mayre, matter, the prop. 
E. form in a if being still retained in the pron. 
mar; the spelling mayor, changed from the oc- 
casional earlier mayer, perhaps to conform the 
termination to that of chancellor, purveyor, etc., 
but more prob. in imitation of the Sp., being 
introduced about the middle of the 16th cen- 
tury, and displacing the older (F.) spelling 
without affecting the pron. until more recent 
times; < ME. maire, mayre, meirr, meyre, < AF. 
maire, metre, meir, meure, OF. maire (later also 
maiour, mayeur, major), F. raaire = Sp. mayor = 
Pg. maior, mayor, a mayor, = OHG. meior, meier, 
MJlQ.meier,meiaer,G. meier(&s a surname, Mey- 
er), a steward, bailiff (majordomo),< ML. major, 
a mayor, prefect, chief, etc., < L. major, greater, 
oompar. of magnus, great: see major, of which 
mayor is a doublet.] The principal officer of a 
municipality; the chief magistrate of a city or 
borough. The mayor of London (that Is. of the district 
known as the City, comprising only a small part of the 
whole area of London : see city of London, under ritu, n. i 
and those of York in England and of Dublin in Ireland 
have the title of lard mayor. The title mayor Is not 
used in Scotland, prooott taking Its place. Compare bur- 
gomatter. 
This yere [1*208] began the names of '/</</./- and aherefs 
In London. Arnald't Chronicle, p. xv. 
And there In the east ende of the hall, where the maire 
kepeth the hustinges, the wairt and all the aldermen as- 
sembled about him. Kir T. More, Works, p. 61. 
The first historical appearance of the office of mayor Is 
In London, where the recognition of the communa by the 
national council In 111)1 is immediately followed by the 
mention of Henry Fttz-Alwyn as mayiir. 
Stubh, Const, Hist., J 485. 
Lord Mayor's Court. See court. Mayor of the pal- 
ace, In France, originally the first officer of the royal 
household, then the first officer of state, under the Mero. 
vingian kings. Gradually these officials aggrandized their 
own influence to the detriment of that of the monarchs, 
till the latter ruled only nominally, all real power being 
usurped by the mayors. The most distinguished among 
them were Pepin of Ht'-ristal. his son Charles Martel, and 
the latter s son Pepfn "the Short.," who In 751 or 752 de- 
throned the last of the Merovingians, Chllderlc III., and 
founded the Carolingian dynasty. Mayor's court, a 
minor judicial tribunal, held in cities by the mayor as 
judge. 
mayoral (ma'or-al), a. [< mayor + -/.] Of 
or pertaining to a mayor or mayors, or the 
office of mayor. 
sir Peter Laurie, afterwards of aldennanic and even 
mayoral celebrity. Carlyle, Reminiscences, I. 217. 
mayoralty (ma'or-al-ti), . [Formerly some- 
times majoralty : <ME. mairalte, <OF. mairaltf; 
as mayoral + -ty.] The office of a mayor, or the 
period of his service. 
This was for matters of misgonernment In his maiitr- 
alitif. Bacon, Hist. Hen. VII., p. K. 
mayoress (ma'or-es), n. [< OF. mairesse, fern, 
of maire, mayor: see mayor.] The wife of a 
mayor. 
To ride In a fine gilt coach and six. 
Like Her Worship the Lady May'rett. 
Hood, Miss Kilmansegg, Her Education 
