資料來源 : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Ephemeral \E*phem"er*al\, a.
1. Beginning and ending in a day; existing only, or no longer
than, a day; diurnal; as, an ephemeral flower.
2. Short-lived; existing or continuing for a short time only.
``Ephemeral popularity.'' --V. Knox.
Sentences not of ephemeral, but of eternal,
efficacy. --Sir J.
Stephen.
{Ephemeral fly} (Zo["o]l.), one of a group of neuropterous
insects, belonging to the genus {Ephemera} and many allied
genera, which live in the adult or winged state only for a
short time. The larv[ae] are aquatic; -- called also {day
fly} and {May fly}.
May \May\, n. [F. Mai, L. Maius; so named in honor of the
goddess Maia (Gr. ?), daughter of Atlas and mother of Mercury
by Jupiter.]
1. The fifth month of the year, containing thirty-one days.
--Chaucer.
2. The early part or springtime of life.
His May of youth, and bloom of lustihood. --Shak.
3. (Bot.) The flowers of the hawthorn; -- so called from
their time of blossoming; also, the hawthorn.
The palm and may make country houses gay. --Nash.
Plumes that micked the may. --Tennyson.
4. The merrymaking of May Day. --Tennyson.
{Italian may} (Bot.), a shrubby species of {Spir[ae]a} ({S.
hypericifolia}) with many clusters of small white flowers
along the slender branches.
{May apple} (Bot.), the fruit of an American plant
({Podophyllum peltatum}). Also, the plant itself
(popularly called {mandrake}), which has two lobed leaves,
and bears a single egg-shaped fruit at the forking. The
root and leaves, used in medicine, are powerfully drastic.
{May beetle}, {May bug} (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous
species of large lamellicorn beetles that appear in the
winged state in May. They belong to {Melolontha}, and
allied genera. Called also {June beetle}.
{May Day}, the first day of May; -- celebrated in the rustic
parts of England by the crowning of a May queen with a
garland, and by dancing about a May pole.
{May dew}, the morning dew of the first day of May, to which
magical properties were attributed.
{May flower} (Bot.), a plant that flowers in May; also, its
blossom. See {Mayflower}, in the vocabulary.
{May fly} (Zo["o]l.), any species of {Ephemera}, and allied
genera; -- so called because the mature flies of many
species appear in May. See {Ephemeral fly}, under
{Ephemeral}.
{May game}, any May-day sport.
{May lady}, the queen or lady of May, in old May games.
{May lily} (Bot.), the lily of the valley ({Convallaria
majalis}).
{May pole}. See {Maypole} in the Vocabulary.
{May queen}, a girl or young woman crowned queen in the
sports of May Day.
{May thorn}, the hawthorn.