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Glite Dictionary
mayest

mayest

1 9.9
To show permission, possibility, or a wish to one person using the old-fashioned form 'thou'
  • auxiliary
  • Archaic
: puedas
  • Thou mayest go, if it pleaseth thee.

Examples

  • Go forth, and mayest thou succeed in all thy endeavors.

  • In old prayers, people would say 'mayest thou be protected from harm.'

  • Mayest thou always find peace in your heart, no matter the troubles you face.

  • Mayest thou find peace.

  • Mayest thou always find joy in the simple things of life.

  • If it pleaseth you, mayest thou enjoy the feast prepared for us.

  • In these dark times, mayest thou be granted the strength to persevere.

Synonyms

mayst
vsmayest
  • Archaic
2 9.9

To be an old poetic helping verb used with thou to show that something can happen

is the same form but mainly signals permission, possibility, wish, or blessing

Surface Forms

mayest infinitive
may'st infinitive
mayst infinitive
Mayest infinitive

Morphology

mayest = may (semi-transparent) = may + est

Form and meaning are directly built from 'may' plus the archaic 2nd-person singular inflection '-est', but the inflection is archaic and may be unfamiliar to modern learners.

Etymology

Mayest is simply the old form of may plus the ending -est that showed 'you' and was used with the old pronoun 'thou'. May comes from an old English word meaning 'to be able', so mayest was used to give 'permission', show 'possibility', or offer a 'wish' or blessing to someone.