See mayday in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
{
"descendants": [
{
"lang": "French",
"lang_code": "fr",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"word": "mayday"
},
{
"lang": "Japanese",
"lang_code": "ja",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"roman": "mēdē",
"word": "メーデー"
},
{
"lang": "Malay",
"lang_code": "ms",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"word": "mayday"
},
{
"lang": "Thai",
"lang_code": "th",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"roman": "mee-dee",
"word": "เมย์เดย์"
}
],
"etymology_links": [
[
"mayday",
"mayday#Translingual"
],
[
"m'",
"me#French"
],
[
"aider",
"aider#French"
],
[
"Venez",
"venez#French"
]
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "fr",
"3": "m'aider"
},
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"name": "der"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From the distress signal mayday, from French m'aider, short for Venez m'aider! (“Come to help me!”). The term was conceived in the early 1920s by Frederick Stanley Mockford, officer-in-charge of radio at Croydon Airport in England. He had been asked to think of a word that would indicate distress and would easily be understood by all pilots and ground staff in an emergency. Since much of the air traffic at the time was between Croydon and Le Bourget Airport in Paris, he proposed the term \"mayday,\" the phonetic equivalent of the French m'aider.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "maydays",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
},
{
"form": "Mayday",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
}
],
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"args": {},
"expansion": "mayday (plural maydays)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
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{
"parts": [
"may",
"day"
]
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
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{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
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"parents": [],
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{
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{
"kind": "other",
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"parents": [],
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},
{
"kind": "other",
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},
{
"kind": "other",
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{
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"source": "w"
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{
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"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
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"source": "w"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
32,
38
]
],
"ref": "2002, Clive Cussler, Valhalla Rising, page 47:",
"text": "\"Odd that she hasn't sent out a Mayday.\"\n\"That is curious. Her radio must be disabled.\"",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
133,
139
]
],
"ref": "2025 October 21, Rose George, “‘I knew in my head we were dying’: the last voyage of the Scandies Rose”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 03 Nov 2025:",
"text": "The captain did a safety drill. This covered where the emergency position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) was located, how to make a mayday call, and where the fire extinguishers were. A crew member demonstrated how to put on an immersion suit. These survival suits are waterproof full-body garments with a hood and integral three-finger gloves and boots. They are bulky and hard to get on but far more likely to save your life in cold water than a lifejacket.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"An international distress signal used by shipping and aircraft."
],
"id": "en-mayday-en-noun-HtFNWE58",
"links": [
[
"international",
"international"
],
[
"distress",
"distress"
],
[
"signal",
"signal"
],
[
"shipping",
"shipping"
],
[
"aircraft",
"aircraft"
]
],
"related": [
{
"word": "distress signal"
},
{
"word": "pan-pan"
},
{
"word": "SOS"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"lang_code": "cmn",
"roman": "yùxiǎn xìnhào",
"sense": "international distress signal used by shipping and aircraft",
"word": "遇險信號 /遇险信号"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"lang_code": "fi",
"sense": "international distress signal used by shipping and aircraft",
"word": "hätäkutsu"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"lang_code": "fr",
"sense": "international distress signal used by shipping and aircraft",
"word": "mayday"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"lang_code": "fr",
"sense": "international distress signal used by shipping and aircraft",
"word": "SOS"
},
{
"code": "el",
"lang": "Greek",
"lang_code": "el",
"roman": "síma kindýnou",
"sense": "international distress signal used by shipping and aircraft",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "σήμα κινδύνου"
},
{
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"lang_code": "ja",
"roman": "mēdē",
"sense": "international distress signal used by shipping and aircraft",
"word": "メーデー"
},
{
"code": "ms",
"lang": "Malay",
"lang_code": "ms",
"sense": "international distress signal used by shipping and aircraft",
"word": "mayday"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"lang_code": "ru",
"roman": "signál bédstvija",
"sense": "international distress signal used by shipping and aircraft",
"word": "сигна́л бе́дствия"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"lang_code": "ru",
"roman": "radiosignal bédstvija",
"sense": "international distress signal used by shipping and aircraft",
"word": "радиосигнал бе́дствия"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"lang_code": "ru",
"roman": "signál \"terplju bedstvije\"",
"sense": "international distress signal used by shipping and aircraft",
"word": "сигна́л \"терплю бедствие\""
},
{
"code": "th",
"lang": "Thai",
"lang_code": "th",
"roman": "mee-dee",
"sense": "international distress signal used by shipping and aircraft",
"word": "เมย์เดย์"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈmeɪ̯deɪ̯/"
},
{
"ipa": "[ˈmeɪ̯deɪ̯]"
},
{
"audio": "en-us-mayday.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/c2/En-us-mayday.ogg/En-us-mayday.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/En-us-mayday.ogg",
"tags": [
"US"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈmæɪ̯deɪ̯/",
"tags": [
"Australia"
]
},
{
"ipa": "[ˈmæ̝ɪ̯dæ̝ɪ̯]",
"tags": [
"Australia"
]
},
{
"audio": "En-au-mayday.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/f2/En-au-mayday.ogg/En-au-mayday.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/En-au-mayday.ogg"
},
{
"rhymes": "-eɪdeɪ"
}
],
"word": "mayday"
}
{
"descendants": [
{
"lang": "French",
"lang_code": "fr",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"word": "mayday"
},
{
"lang": "Japanese",
"lang_code": "ja",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"roman": "mēdē",
"word": "メーデー"
},
{
"lang": "Malay",
"lang_code": "ms",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"word": "mayday"
},
{
"lang": "Thai",
"lang_code": "th",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"roman": "mee-dee",
"word": "เมย์เดย์"
}
],
"etymology_links": [
[
"mayday",
"mayday#Translingual"
],
[
"m'",
"me#French"
],
[
"aider",
"aider#French"
],
[
"Venez",
"venez#French"
]
],
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{
"args": {
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"2": "fr",
"3": "m'aider"
},
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"name": "der"
}
],
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"forms": [
{
"form": "maydays",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
},
{
"form": "Mayday",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "mayday (plural maydays)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"hyphenations": [
{
"parts": [
"may",
"day"
]
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"related": [
{
"word": "distress signal"
},
{
"word": "pan-pan"
},
{
"word": "SOS"
}
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{
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"English lemmas",
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"Rhymes:English/eɪdeɪ",
"Rhymes:English/eɪdeɪ/2 syllables",
"Terms with Finnish translations",
"Terms with French translations",
"Terms with Greek translations",
"Terms with Japanese translations",
"Terms with Malay translations",
"Terms with Mandarin translations",
"Terms with Russian translations",
"Terms with Thai translations"
],
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{
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32,
38
]
],
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"text": "\"Odd that she hasn't sent out a Mayday.\"\n\"That is curious. Her radio must be disabled.\"",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
133,
139
]
],
"ref": "2025 October 21, Rose George, “‘I knew in my head we were dying’: the last voyage of the Scandies Rose”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 03 Nov 2025:",
"text": "The captain did a safety drill. This covered where the emergency position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) was located, how to make a mayday call, and where the fire extinguishers were. A crew member demonstrated how to put on an immersion suit. These survival suits are waterproof full-body garments with a hood and integral three-finger gloves and boots. They are bulky and hard to get on but far more likely to save your life in cold water than a lifejacket.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"An international distress signal used by shipping and aircraft."
],
"links": [
[
"international",
"international"
],
[
"distress",
"distress"
],
[
"signal",
"signal"
],
[
"shipping",
"shipping"
],
[
"aircraft",
"aircraft"
]
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈmeɪ̯deɪ̯/"
},
{
"ipa": "[ˈmeɪ̯deɪ̯]"
},
{
"audio": "en-us-mayday.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/c2/En-us-mayday.ogg/En-us-mayday.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/En-us-mayday.ogg",
"tags": [
"US"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈmæɪ̯deɪ̯/",
"tags": [
"Australia"
]
},
{
"ipa": "[ˈmæ̝ɪ̯dæ̝ɪ̯]",
"tags": [
"Australia"
]
},
{
"audio": "En-au-mayday.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/f2/En-au-mayday.ogg/En-au-mayday.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/En-au-mayday.ogg"
},
{
"rhymes": "-eɪdeɪ"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"lang_code": "cmn",
"roman": "yùxiǎn xìnhào",
"sense": "international distress signal used by shipping and aircraft",
"word": "遇險信號 /遇险信号"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"lang_code": "fi",
"sense": "international distress signal used by shipping and aircraft",
"word": "hätäkutsu"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"lang_code": "fr",
"sense": "international distress signal used by shipping and aircraft",
"word": "mayday"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"lang_code": "fr",
"sense": "international distress signal used by shipping and aircraft",
"word": "SOS"
},
{
"code": "el",
"lang": "Greek",
"lang_code": "el",
"roman": "síma kindýnou",
"sense": "international distress signal used by shipping and aircraft",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "σήμα κινδύνου"
},
{
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"lang_code": "ja",
"roman": "mēdē",
"sense": "international distress signal used by shipping and aircraft",
"word": "メーデー"
},
{
"code": "ms",
"lang": "Malay",
"lang_code": "ms",
"sense": "international distress signal used by shipping and aircraft",
"word": "mayday"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"lang_code": "ru",
"roman": "signál bédstvija",
"sense": "international distress signal used by shipping and aircraft",
"word": "сигна́л бе́дствия"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"lang_code": "ru",
"roman": "radiosignal bédstvija",
"sense": "international distress signal used by shipping and aircraft",
"word": "радиосигнал бе́дствия"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"lang_code": "ru",
"roman": "signál \"terplju bedstvije\"",
"sense": "international distress signal used by shipping and aircraft",
"word": "сигна́л \"терплю бедствие\""
},
{
"code": "th",
"lang": "Thai",
"lang_code": "th",
"roman": "mee-dee",
"sense": "international distress signal used by shipping and aircraft",
"word": "เมย์เดย์"
}
],
"word": "mayday"
}
Download raw JSONL data for mayday meaning in English (6.0kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-09-25 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-09-02 using wiktextract (1a05e46 and e3d6d4e). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.