Dictionary

mayn't en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˈmeɪ.ənt/
• /ˈmeɪnt/

Etymology

From may + -n't.

Meanings

1. (archaic, no-past-participle, no-present-participle) may not (negative auxiliary)
   • I mayn't have much head, master, but I’ve head enough to remember those that use me ill. 1841 February–November, Charles Dickens, “Barnaby Rudge. Chapter 40.”, in Master Humphrey’s Clock, volume III, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC:
   • "Yes, we went to school in the sea, though you mayn't believe it—" 1865 November (indicated as 1866), Lewis Carroll [pseudonym; Charles Lutwidge Dodgson], “The Mock Turtle’s Story”, in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 142:
   • "Now, father," said Nancy, "is there any call for you to go home to tea? Mayn't you just as well stay with us?--such a beautiful evening as it's likely to be." 1861, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter XVII, in Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC:
   • You mayn't hardly believe it, but at the present moment I am absolutely without a farthing. 1914, Saki, The Romancers:
   • I can't help about other people. But I surely would like to have a spot to stop till daylight. Still - if people don't relish this place, mayn't it be because it's getting so run-down? 1930, H. P. Lovecraft, Madusa's Coil:

Forms

Coordinates

couldn't · oughtn't · won't · mightn't · wouldn't · can't · shan't · shouldn't

Translations (3)

es no poder (contraction of "may not", might not) · pl nie można (contraction of "may not", might not) · mi kei kore (contraction of "may not", might not)