mayday English · revision 910

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈmeɪdeɪ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ An English spelling of the pronunciation of [[fr|m'aidez|t=help me!]],^(AHD)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) or of ''m'aider'', short for ''venez m'aider'' “come help me!”.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) It has nothing to do with the first of May.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An international radio-telephone distress call (1923 in Etymonline; 1927 in Barnhart and Merriam-Webster).^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The signal was chosen by agreement in early 1923 at a meeting in London of representatives of the main European aircraft-building countries,^(Etymonline) prompted by the growing number of passenger flights between London and Paris.^(Etymonline) The Morse signal [[SOS]] was unsuitable for voice radio, since the sound of ''S'' was hard to hear, and ''mayday'' was chosen as an English word close to the French ''m'aidez''.^(Etymonline) It is used by ships and aircraft in distress, usually repeated three times.^(AHD)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1923 – chosen as a voice distress call.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1927 – the first dates in Barnhart and Merriam-Webster.^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An international radio-telephone [[distress signal]] used by ships and aircraft.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[distress signal]]

+ * [[SOS]]

+ * [[May Day]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}