MAY - The Law Mind Legal Dictionary

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MAYAuthored

The Law Mind • 1200 words

Definition

"May" is a term of permission or discretion in legal drafting, signifying that an actor is authorized or permitted to take an action but is not required to do so. In its default legal meaning, "may" confers a power, privilege, or option — the holder may act or refrain from acting at their discretion.

However, this default reading is frequently displaced. Courts and legislatures have long recognized that "may" can carry mandatory force — equivalent to "shall" or "must" — when context demands it. The interpretive question is not what "may" means in isolation but what the drafter intended given the full instrument and the surrounding legal structure.

Two situations commonly trigger mandatory construction:
1. Where the legislative intent was to impose a duty rather than confer discretion, and the permissive reading would frustrate that intent.
2. Where a third party or the public holds a legal right that the power be exercised — in which case the holder has no genuine option to withhold action.

Common Language

Modern common usage (Wiktionary): To have permission to; to be allowed. Also used to express present possibility ("it may rain") or polite requests. Broadly, a soft modal — not commanding, not prohibiting.

Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): An auxiliary verb expressing ability, competency, or possibility. Historically used interchangeably with "can" for expressions of ability, and with a distinct sense of license or permission.

The gap between common and legal meaning is not that "may" means something entirely different in law — the permission sense carries over cleanly. The gap is that legal readers cannot simply accept the permissive reading at face value. In statutory and regulatory texts, "may" is a trigger for interpretive analysis, not a settled answer. A statute that says an agency "may" act has been held mandatory in hundreds of American cases. Common usage offers no warning of this instability.

Common Confusion

"May" versus "shall": These are the two poles of legal drafting, nominally marking the permissive/mandatory divide. In practice, the line collapses regularly. Courts construe "may" as mandatory when the structure of the enactment or the rights of third parties demand it. Conversely, "shall" is sometimes read as merely directory rather than mandatory. Neither word is self-executing as a statement of mandatory or permissive intent. Researchers encountering either term in a historical instrument must examine the surrounding context, the nature of the power conferred, and who stands to benefit.

"May" versus "can": In careful modern legal drafting, "may" signals permission and "can" signals capability or legal power. Older statutes and cases use the terms loosely and interchangeably. This distinction matters when reading historical sources.

Why It Matters in Research

This is one of the most interpretively contested words in Anglo-American law, and corpus researchers face several traps.

First, the may/shall problem is not modern. Rapalje & Lawrence, Bouvier, and Anderson all record the mandatory construction of "may" as established doctrine, not a contemporary innovation. Researchers reading 19th-century cases should not assume that "may" in a statute resolved the question of whether an official had discretion. The courts of that era were already collapsing the distinction routinely.

Second, context is everything. The same word in a contract, a statute, a constitutional provision, and a judicial order may carry different operative weight. "May" in a private deed turns on the parties' intent. "May" in a statute may impose a duty if public rights depend on its exercise. "May" in a court order has sometimes been read as mandatory by the court issuing it. The Law Mind corpus contains instruments across all these categories, and a word-search for "may" will return results that require individual contextual analysis.

Third, the administrative law context is particularly dense. Whether an agency "may" act versus "must" act when statutory conditions are met has generated substantial federal litigation. Historical administrative materials in the corpus reflect this doctrinal struggle without always resolving it explicitly.

Fourth, beware false clarity in older digests. Some 19th-century treatise writers stated confident rules about "may" that the case law of their own era contradicted. The entry in Anderson's — which appears in the corpus as a fragment discussing notices and subject matter — illustrates how casually the word appeared in surrounding legal text without being analyzed.

Historical Dictionary Support

The three source dictionaries agree on the core point: "may" is a term of permission in its natural sense, but courts will read it as mandatory when the legislative purpose or the rights of third parties demand it.

Bouvier states the rule most fully: "may" should be construed as equivalent to "shall" or "must" where the good sense of the enactment requires it, where it is necessary to carry out legislative intent, or where it is necessary for the preservation or enforcement of rights. Bouvier supports this with case citations spanning multiple jurisdictions, reflecting that this was established doctrine well before the late 19th century.

Rapalje & Lawrence tracks the same framework, adding the important observation that the mandatory construction applies especially where "third persons or the public have a right de jure that the power conferred shall be exercised." This is a significant doctrinal refinement: the existence of a correlative right in another party can transform a permissive grant into a duty.

Anderson's Dictionary of Law, as preserved in the corpus fragment, does not address "may" directly as a headword in the recovered text, but its surrounding entries on maturity and subject matter show how freely the term circulated in legal instruments without triggering explicit analysis. This is itself informative — in practice, 19th-century lawyers often left the may/shall question to be resolved by a court rather than resolving it in drafting.

What the historical dictionaries do not fully capture is the modern administrative law dimension: the question of whether "may" in a federal statute permits or compels agency action when triggering conditions are met. This doctrinal layer is entirely a 20th-century development and must be researched through later sources.

Jurisdictional Note

The may/shall interpretive doctrine applies across American jurisdictions, but some states have codified construction rules. A handful of state codes define "may" as permissive and "shall" as mandatory by statute, which shifts the interpretive default — though courts still reserve power to override the textual default when context demands. Federal statutory construction does not have a comparable blanket codification, leaving the question to case-by-case analysis.

Encyclopedia Cross-Reference

Remedies & Equity Encyclopedia — Cumulation of Remedies: When Multiple Remedies May Be Pursued Simultaneously
Torts & Personal Injury Encyclopedia — Wrongful Death and Survival Actions: Who May Bring a Wrongful Death Claim (Beneficiaries)

MAYmain

Rapalje & Lawrence • 1883

This word in a statute is to be construed "must," or "shall," whenever it can be seen that the legislative intent was to impose a duty, and not simply a privilege or discretionary power; and the same rule prevails where third persons or the public have a right de jure that the power conferred shall be exercised. In deeds and other private writings, the construction of the word depends upon the circumstances of each particular case. MAY, (in a statute, when imperative). 9 How. (U. S.) 248, 259; 22 Id. 422; 1 Pet. (U. S.) 46; 4 Wall. (U. S.) 435; 5 Id. 705; 28 Ala. 28; 9 Port. (Ala.) 390; 45 Cal. 696; 44 Conn. 534; 13 III. 3; 68 Id. 144; 70 Id. 587; 27; 61 Me. 566; 16-Gray (Mass.) 168; 110 Mass. 238, 239; 111 Id. 407; 125 Id. 198, 201; 11 Minn. 92, 101; 48 Mo. 167; 3 Neb. 224; 4 Id. 150; 11 Nev. 260; 39 Ν. Η. 435; 2 Harr. (N. J.) 171; South. (N. J.) 357, 358; 11 Abb. (N. Y.) Pr. 90, 93; 51 Barb. (N. Y.) 270; 1 Den. (Ν. Υ.) 457; 12 How. (N. Y.) Pr. 224, 231; 17 Hun (N. Y.) 142; 25 Id. 17; 3 Lans. (N. Y.) 160; 51 N. Y. 401, 406; 72 Id. 583, 586; 11 Wend. (N. Y.) 159; 14 Id. 647; 3 Serg. & R. (Pa.) 151; 14 Id. 429; 36 Wis. 498; 15 Am. Dec. 464, 467 n.; 9 East 394; 2 Salk. 609; 5 Т. R. 538; 1 Vern. 153 n.; 5 Com. Dig. 330; Wilberf. Stat. L. 196, 197, 199, 204. MAY, (in a statute, when permissive only). 1 Pet. (U. S.) 46, 64; 71 Me. 29; 107 Mass. 194, 197; 39 Mo. 521; 3 Dutch. (N. J.) 407; 50 Barb. (N.Y.) 339, 340; 5 Cow. (N.Y.) 188, 192; 1 Duer (N. Y.) 599, 600; 10 How. (N. Y.) Pr. 237; 5 Johns. (N. Y.) Ch. 101, 113; 24 N. Y. 405; 23 Wend. (N. Y.) 156; 9 Wis. 309. MAY ADVANCE, (in a memorandum). Mont. D. & DeG. 587. MAY BE MADE, (in a lease). 6 Wend. (N. Y.) 582. MAY CONTRACT, (in an agreement). 2 Campb. 413. MAY EXEMPT, (in a statute). L. R. 8 Q. BВ. 481. MAY GIVE, (in a devise). 10 Mod. 404. MAY HAVE, (in a will). 1 Ves. & B. 422. MAY IN ANY WISE, (not always synonymous with "may by any possibility," or "may under any circumstances"). 6 Halst. (N. J.) 62. MAY PAY, (equivalent to "liable to pay"). 83 Pa. St. 397. (in a will). 2 Vern. 559. MAY RECEIVE, (in an agreement). 41 Conn. 470.

MAYmain

Anderson's Dictionary of Law • 1890

the general issue, may give in evidence in his defense. a The character of the matter is indicated in a notice served upon the plaintiff. Subject-matter. See SUBJECT, 2 (1). MATURE; MATURITY.1 1. In will, may import maturity of mind and character, the combined result of age and education.2 2. Applied to bonds or similar instruments, and to negotiable instruments generally, refer to the time fixed for payment, - the termination of the period they have to run. Opposed to immature, immaturity. See DUE; NEGOTIATE, 2. "At maturity" includes the whole day, unless expressly limited to a certain hour.4 When a promissory note payable on a certain day bears interest "after maturity," interest should be computed from the day fixed for payment, not from the last day of grace. ΜΑΧΙΜ. "A proposition to be of all men confessed and granted without proof, argument, or discourse. A conclusion of reason." So called quia maxima ejus dignitas et certissima auctoritas, et quod maxime omnibus probetur, because its value is the highest and its authority the most reliable, and because it is accepted by all persons as the very highest. The authority of the maxims which are part of the common law rests entirely upon general reception; and the only method of proving that this or that maxim is a rule of the common law is by showing that it has always been the custom to observe it. These maxims are known, and their validity determined, by the judges of the courts.8 The principles and axioms of law, which are general propositions flowing from abstracted reason, and not accommodated to times or men, are wisely deposited in the breasts of the judges to be applied to such facts as come properly ascertained before them. See LAW, Common. When a principle has been so long practiced and so universally acknowledged as to become a maxim, it is obligatory as part of the law. 10 See EQUITY, p. 409. The Latin maxims in this book will be found translated and explained under the word of most importance in each maxim, with cross-references to and from corresponding English words. Though primarily importing permission, is often used, in construing statutes, in the sense of "shall" or "must." Where public interest or private right requires that a thing should be done, "may" is construed to mean "must." 1 Equivalent to "must" or "shall" when important rights of an accused person depend upon it, and when the context and general purpose of a statute require it.? Construed "must" in all cases where the legislature meant to impose a positive and absolute duty, and not merely a discretionary power. The ordinary meaning of the language must be presumed intended, unless that would defeat the object of the provision. But it is only where it is necessary to give effect to the clear policy and intention of the legislature that such liberty can be taken with the plain words of statutes.4 When power is given to public officers, and the public interest or individual rights call for its exercise, the language used, though permissive in form, is in fact peremptory. See REQUIRE. May be. The expression, in a statute, that "the county court in which any part of the route of the said railroad may be," may subscribe to the stock, is to be construed with reference to the situation of the subject-matter. Used of a railroad already built, "may be" would be equivalent to "exists," " is built," "in operation," or the like. But referring to a road not yet built, not located or surveyed, nor organized, it must have a different meaning. May have. Possessions that a testator "may have" do not necessarily refer to future time." "May have" and "may have been" are presumably retrospective. 1 People v. Supervisors, 68 N. Y. 119 (1877); People v. Supervisors, 51 id. 406-7 (1873), cases. 2 State v. Neuner, 49 Conn. 233 (1881), cases; Commonwealth v. Smith. 111 Mass. 407 (1873). 3 Thompson v. Lessee of Carroll, 22 How. 434 (1859), Grier, J. 4 Minor v. Mechanics' Bank, 1 Pet. 64 (1828), Story, J. • Supervisors v. United States, 4 Wall. 446-47 (1866), cases, Swayne, J.; Jones v. Statesville, 97 N. C. 86 (1887). See also Leighton v. Maury, 76 Va. 870 (1882); Exp. Lester, 77 id. 673 (1883); 9 How. 259; 5 Wall. 705; 95 U. S. 1 L. maturus, completed as to period; ripe. 2 Condict v. King, 13 N. J. E. 380 (1861). 3 United States v. Union Pacific R. Co., 91 U. S. 85 170; 17 F. R. 814; 2 Flip. 373; 7 Ct. Cl. 334; 12 Ala. 693; (1875), Davis, J. 28 id. 28; 45 Cal. 696; 70 III. 590; 77 id. 273; 7 Ind. 122; 4] Leigh v. Knickerbocker Life Ins. Co., 26 La. An. 438 18 id. 27; 53 Me. 438; 61 id. 566; 107 Mass. 197; 125 id. (1874). • Wheeless v. Williams, 62 Miss. 369 (1884). L. maxima (sententia), the greatest sentiment: an opinion of the greatest weight or authority. 7 Coke, Litt. 67 a, 11 a. 81 Bl. Com. 68. 93 Bl. Com. 379. See 15 West. Jur. 337; Broom, and Wharton, on Maxims. 10 Hendrickson v. Evans, 25 Pa. 444 (1855). 201; 141 id. 104; 11 Minn. 101; 35 id. 186; 39 Mo. 521; 48 id. 167, 390; 3 Neb. 224; 4 id. 150; 11 Nev. 260; 39 Ν. Η. 435; 27 N. J. L. 407; 24 N. Y. 495; 52 id. 27; 91 id. 537; 81 Pa. 349; 8 Phila. 625; 1 Wash. T. 51; 9 Wis. 309; 36 id. 498; 64 id. 347; 73 E. C. L. 755. • County of Calloway v. Foster, 93 U. S. 573 (1876). * Wilkinson v. Adam, 1 Ves. & B. *442 (1812). * Heeney v. Brooklyn Benevolent Society, 33 Barb. 363 (1861).

MAYmain

Bouvier's Law Dictionary • 1928

Is permitted to; has liberty to. In interpreting statutes the word may should be construed as equivalent to shall or must in cases where the good sense of the entire enactment requires it; 22 Barb. 404; 50 Kan. 739; or where it is necessary in order to carry out the intention of the legislature; 1 Pet. 46; 4 Wall. 435; 3 Neb. 224; or where it is necessary for the preser- vation or enforcement of the rights and in- terests of the public or third persons; 18 Ind. 27; 61 Me. 566; 48 Mo. 167; 107 Mass. 194, 197; 12 How. Pr. 224; but not for the purpose of creating or determining the character of rights: 28 Ala. 28; 39 Mo. 531. Where there is nothing in the connection of the language or in the sense and policy of the provision to require an unusual in- terpretation, its use is merely permissive and discretionary; 24 N. Y. 405; 77 III. 271; 27 N. J. L. 407; 8 Miso. Rep. 256; 7 id. 15: 107 Mass. 196; 30 Fed. Rep. 52. See 53 Me. 438; 48 Mo. 167; 125 Mass. 198; 52 Kan. 18; 40 La. Ann. 756; 125 Mass. 199; 46 Ia. 162. In subdivision 5 of § 7 of the Food and Drugs Act of 1906 the word may is used in its ordinary and usual signification; and if an article of food may not by the addition of a small amount of poisonous substance by any possibility, injure the health of any consumer, it may not be condemned under this subdivision of the Act. 232 U. S. 399.

MAYv.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

An auxiliary verb qualifyng the meaning of another verb, by expressing: (a) Ability, competency, or possibility; -- now oftener expressed by can. How may a man, said he, with idle speech, Be won to spoil the castle of his health ! Spenser. For what he [the king] may do is of two kinds; what he may do as just, and what he may do as possible. Bacon. For of all sad words of tongue or pen The saddest are these: "It might have been." Whittier. Liberty; permission; allowance. Thou mayst be no longer steward. Luke xvi. 2. Contingency or liability; possibility or probability. Though what he learns he speaks, and may advance Some general maxims, or be right by chance. Pope. Modesty, courtesy, or concession, or a desire to soften a question or remark. How old may Phillis be, you ask. Prior. Desire or wish, as in prayer, imprecation, benediction, and the like. "May you live happily." Dryden. May be, and It may be, are used as equivalent to possibly, perhaps, by chance, peradventure. See 1st Maybe.

MAYn.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

A maiden. [Obs.] Chaucer.

MAYn.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

The fifth month of the year, containing thirty-one days. Chaucer. The early part or springtime of life. His May of youth, and bloom of lustihood. Shak. The flowers of the hawthorn; -- so called from their time of blossoming; also, the hawthorn. The palm and may make country houses gay. Nash. Plumes that micked the may. Tennyson. The merrymaking of May Day. Tennyson. Italian may (Bot.), a shrubby species of Spiræa (S. 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 (Zoöl.), 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 (Zoöl.), 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.

mayverb

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

Wiktionary contributors • CC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
Extracted and formatted for display by Law Mind. Source link opens the current Wiktionary page and its contributor history; it is not a frozen copy of this extract.

To be strong; to have power (over). | To be able; can. | To be able to go. | To have permission to, be allowed. Used in granting permission and in questions to make polite requests. | Granting the admissibility of a supposition, in a way that can be semantically either subjunctive or indicative. | Expressing a present possibility; possibly. | Granting the admissibility of a supposition, in a way that can be semantically either subjunctive or indicative. | Expressing a disjunctive or contrastive relation between indicative statements. | Expressing a wish (with present subjunctive effect). | Used in modesty, courtesy, or concession, or to soften a question or remark.

maynoun

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

The hawthorn bush or its blossoms.

maynoun

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

A maiden.

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