(Vieilli)Négation de l’auxiliairemay, contraction de “may not” : « N’avoir le droit, ne pas pouvoir ».
I mayn’t have much head, master, but I’ve head enough to remember those that use me ill.— (Charles Dickens, Barnaby Rudge, chap. 40, 1841)
“Mulligan’s our Health Officer, and a one-idea man,” said the Mayor, laughing. “But it’s true that most Serviles haven’t much control. They will talk; and when people take to talking as a business, anything may arrive—mayn’t it, De Forest?”— (Rudyard Kipling, As Easy As A.B.C., 1912)