See mayday in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
{
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"etymology_text": "Borrowed 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.",
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"ref": "2004, Ken Wishaw, Helicopter Rescue: The true story of Australia's first full-time chopper doctor, page 82:",
"text": "'Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!' came the call.",
"type": "quotation"
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],
"glosses": [
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"id": "en-mayday-mul-intj-j~hvHa2F",
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"(radio) emergency, need assistance"
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"lang_code": "ca",
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"tags": [
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"word": "socors"
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"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
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"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"lang_code": "cmn",
"roman": "yùxiǎn xìnhào",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "遇險信號 /遇险信号"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"lang_code": "fi",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "mayday"
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{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"lang_code": "fr",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "au secours !"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"lang_code": "fr",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "à l'aide !"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"lang_code": "fr",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "mayday"
},
{
"code": "ka",
"lang": "Georgian",
"lang_code": "ka",
"roman": "mišvelet",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "მიშველეთ"
},
{
"code": "ka",
"lang": "Georgian",
"lang_code": "ka",
"roman": "damexmaret",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "დამეხმარეთ"
},
{
"alt": "mišveletǃ",
"code": "ka",
"lang": "Georgian",
"lang_code": "ka",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "მიშველეთǃ"
},
{
"alt": "damexmaretǃ",
"code": "ka",
"lang": "Georgian",
"lang_code": "ka",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "დამეხმარეთǃ"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"lang_code": "de",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "Hilfe!"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"lang_code": "de",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "Mayday!"
},
{
"code": "el",
"lang": "Greek",
"lang_code": "el",
"roman": "voḯtheia",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "βοήθεια"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"lang_code": "it",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "aiuto !"
},
{
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"lang_code": "ja",
"roman": "mēdē",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "メーデー"
},
{
"code": "ko",
"lang": "Korean",
"lang_code": "ko",
"roman": "meidei",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "메이데이"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"lang_code": "ru",
"roman": "pomogíte",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "помоги́те"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"lang_code": "ru",
"roman": "terpljú bédstvije",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "терплю́ бе́дствие"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"lang_code": "ru",
"roman": "na pómoščʹ",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "на по́мощь"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"lang_code": "ru",
"roman": "mɛjdɛ́j",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "мэйдэ́й"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"lang_code": "ru",
"roman": "mɛdɛ́",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "мэдэ́"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"lang_code": "sh",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "upomoć"
},
{
"code": "sl",
"lang": "Slovene",
"lang_code": "sl",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "na pomoč"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"lang_code": "es",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "¡socorro!"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"lang_code": "es",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "¡auxilio!"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"lang_code": "es",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "¡ayuda!"
},
{
"code": "tr",
"lang": "Turkish",
"lang_code": "tr",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "medet!"
}
]
}
],
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"ipa": "/ˈmeɪ.deɪ/"
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"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/En-au-mayday.ogg",
"tags": [
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],
"word": "mayday"
}
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"2": "fr",
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"name": "bor+"
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],
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"lang_code": "mul",
"pos": "intj",
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{
"word": "pan-pan"
}
],
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"Terms with French translations",
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"ref": "2004, Ken Wishaw, Helicopter Rescue: The true story of Australia's first full-time chopper doctor, page 82:",
"text": "'Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!' came the call.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"emergency, need assistance"
],
"links": [
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"radio"
],
[
"emergency",
"emergency"
],
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],
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"(radio) emergency, need assistance"
],
"topics": [
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"media",
"radio"
]
}
],
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"ipa": "/ˈmeɪ.deɪ/"
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{
"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": [
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"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/En-au-mayday.ogg",
"tags": [
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],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "SOS"
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],
"translations": [
{
"code": "ca",
"lang": "Catalan",
"lang_code": "ca",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "socors"
},
{
"code": "ca",
"lang": "Catalan",
"lang_code": "ca",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "auxili"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"lang_code": "cmn",
"roman": "yùxiǎn xìnhào",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "遇險信號 /遇险信号"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"lang_code": "fi",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "mayday"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"lang_code": "fr",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "au secours !"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"lang_code": "fr",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "à l'aide !"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"lang_code": "fr",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "mayday"
},
{
"code": "ka",
"lang": "Georgian",
"lang_code": "ka",
"roman": "mišvelet",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "მიშველეთ"
},
{
"code": "ka",
"lang": "Georgian",
"lang_code": "ka",
"roman": "damexmaret",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "დამეხმარეთ"
},
{
"alt": "mišveletǃ",
"code": "ka",
"lang": "Georgian",
"lang_code": "ka",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "მიშველეთǃ"
},
{
"alt": "damexmaretǃ",
"code": "ka",
"lang": "Georgian",
"lang_code": "ka",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "დამეხმარეთǃ"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"lang_code": "de",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "Hilfe!"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"lang_code": "de",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "Mayday!"
},
{
"code": "el",
"lang": "Greek",
"lang_code": "el",
"roman": "voḯtheia",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "βοήθεια"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"lang_code": "it",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "aiuto !"
},
{
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"lang_code": "ja",
"roman": "mēdē",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "メーデー"
},
{
"code": "ko",
"lang": "Korean",
"lang_code": "ko",
"roman": "meidei",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "메이데이"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"lang_code": "ru",
"roman": "pomogíte",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "помоги́те"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"lang_code": "ru",
"roman": "terpljú bédstvije",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "терплю́ бе́дствие"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"lang_code": "ru",
"roman": "na pómoščʹ",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "на по́мощь"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"lang_code": "ru",
"roman": "mɛjdɛ́j",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "мэйдэ́й"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"lang_code": "ru",
"roman": "mɛdɛ́",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "мэдэ́"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"lang_code": "sh",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "upomoć"
},
{
"code": "sl",
"lang": "Slovene",
"lang_code": "sl",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "na pomoč"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"lang_code": "es",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "¡socorro!"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"lang_code": "es",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "¡auxilio!"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"lang_code": "es",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "¡ayuda!"
},
{
"code": "tr",
"lang": "Turkish",
"lang_code": "tr",
"sense": "emergency, need assistance",
"word": "medet!"
}
],
"word": "mayday"
}
Download raw JSONL data for mayday meaning in Translingual (6.6kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable Translingual dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-09-20 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-09-02 using wiktextract (d6fca27 and 65e1673). 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.