maypole en · NOUN
Pronunciation
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂sder.? Latin Maia Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Italic *-os Archaic Latin -os Latin -us Latin Maiusder. Old French maibor. Middle English May English May English pole English maypole Compound of May + pole, so called in reference to its use on May Day.
Meanings
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A pole, garlanded with streamers held by people who dance around it to celebrate May Day.
The seemingly innocent Maypole is a relic of witchcraft.
1965, Attila Zohar, Kings Cross Black Magic, Sydney: Horwitz Publications, page 93:At Ickwell Green, in Bedfordshire, there is a permanent maypole. There, the May Queen is accompanied by moggies (raggedly dressed women) carrying besoms - birch-twig brooms.
1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 263:The maypole, the focal point of many traditional spring games and festivities, is believed to be a relic of ancient phallic worship.
1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 149:How would you like the maypole decorated?
- (idiomatic) A very tall girl or young lady.
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A maypole-like structure of sticks placed about a sapling in the bowers of certain species of bowerbird.
The male Golden Bowerbird is a beautiful bird that builds one of the greatest structures in the natural world, a maypole up to three metres tall constructed of sticks and festooned with decorative clusters of flowers and lichens.
2005, Sean Dooley, The Big Twitch, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, page 212:
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(euphemistic) A penis, especially a large one.
and now, disengag'd from the shirt, I saw, with wonder and surprise, what? not the play-thing of a boy, not the weapon of a man, but a maypole of so enormous a standard, that had proportions been observ'd, it must have belong'd to a young giant.
1749, [John Cleland], “(Please specify the letter or volume)”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], London: […] [Thomas Parker] for G. Fenton [i.e., Fenton and Ralph Griffiths] […], →OCLC:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| may-pole | alternative | lexicographic | |
| maypoles | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
maypoler · maypole dancer · mayhole
Translations (19)
no midtsommerstang (pole, garlanded with streamers held by people who dance around it to celebrate May Day) · sv midsommarstång (pole, garlanded with streamers held by people who dance around it to celebrate May Day) · pl gaik (pole, garlanded with streamers held by people who dance around it to celebrate May Day) · de Maibaum (pole, garlanded with streamers held by people who dance around it to celebrate May Day) · pl drzewko majowe (pole, garlanded with streamers held by people who dance around it to celebrate May Day) · da majstang (pole, garlanded with streamers held by people who dance around it to celebrate May Day) · cs májka (pole, garlanded with streamers held by people who dance around it to celebrate May Day) · pl maik (pole, garlanded with streamers held by people who dance around it to celebrate May Day) · es mayo (pole, garlanded with streamers held by people who dance around it to celebrate May Day) · ar عَمُود الرَّقْص (pole, garlanded with streamers held by people who dance around it to celebrate May Day) · no maistang (pole, garlanded with streamers held by people who dance around it to celebrate May Day) · fi juhannussalko (pole, garlanded with streamers held by people who dance around it to celebrate May Day) · da midsommerstang (pole, garlanded with streamers held by people who dance around it to celebrate May Day) · nl meiboom (pole, garlanded with streamers held by people who dance around it to celebrate May Day) · fr arbre de mai (pole, garlanded with streamers held by people who dance around it to celebrate May Day) · cs máje (pole, garlanded with streamers held by people who dance around it to celebrate May Day) · sv majstång (pole, garlanded with streamers held by people who dance around it to celebrate May Day) · ast mayu (pole, garlanded with streamers held by people who dance around it to celebrate May Day) · pl słup majowy (pole, garlanded with streamers held by people who dance around it to celebrate May Day)