| ling. |
develop a meaning (referring to ... – такое-то (говоря о слове): May is the earlier verb, showing up in manuscripts from the 8th century. It originally referred to having strength or power, and then very quickly developed a meaning that referred to ability. This particular meaning is no longer in current use, but we find a late representative of this use in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales from 1395: “We mowen nat...It ouertake, it slit awey so faste” (“We may not overtake it, it slid away so fast”). May also developed a meaning referring to possibility, which we’re still familiar with today (“I may be able to have lunch with you this Thursday”), and the meaning that schoolteachers insist it has today–one that grants permission (“You may use the bathroom”). All four of these meanings were in use before 1000AD.  merriam-webster.com Alex_Odeychuk) |
