Standard Lemma guide

mayfly

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

Any of the many fragile insects of the order Ephemeroptera that develop in fresh water and live very briefly as winged adults.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • While some animals take months to reproduce, mayfly need just one perfect day.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: dayfly, drake, drakefly, ephemera, ephemerid, fishfly, shadfly, upwing fly, upwinged fly

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Characterized by a short duration; short-lived.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: attributive, figuratively

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

slender insect with delicate membranous wings having an aquatic larval stage and terrestrial adult stage usually lasting less than two days

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: dayfly, shadfly

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: ephemerid, ephemeropteran

History

Etymology

From May + fly. Compare Saterland Frisian Moaifljooge (“blowfly”).

Across languages

Translations

62 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: ذُبَابَة مَايُو — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Arabic: ذُبَاب مَايُو (ḏubāb māyū) — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Azerbaijani: gündəcə — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Bengali: মাছমাছি (machmachi) — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Bulgarian: еднодне́вка (ednodnévka) — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Catalan: efímera — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Chinese Cantonese: 蜉蝣 (fau4 jau4) — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Chinese Mandarin: 蜉蝣 (fúyóu) — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Czech: jepice — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Dutch: eendagsvlieg — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Dutch: haft — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Esperanto: efemero — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Faroese: døgnfluga — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Faroese: samdøgursfluga — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Finnish: päivänkorento — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • French: éphémère — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • German: Eintagsfliege — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • German: Ephemeride — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Greek: εφημερόπτερο (efimeróptero) — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Hebrew: בַּרְיוֹם (baryóm) — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Hungarian: tiszavirág — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Hungarian: kérész — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Ido: efemero — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Ido: efemeroptero — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Italian: efemera — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Italian: effimera — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Italian: effimero — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Japanese: 蜉蝣 — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Kazakh: біркүндіктер (bırkündıkter) — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Korean: 하루살이 (harusari) — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Kyrgyz: күнүмдүктөр (künümdüktör) — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Malayalam: മെയ് ഫ്ലൈ (meyŭ phlai) — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Māori: piriwai — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Navajo: aniłtʼánii bitseeʼ hólóní — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Norman: moûque d'un jour — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Norwegian Bokmål: døgnflue — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: døgnfluge — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: døgerfluge — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Occitan: efemèra — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Occitan: manna del peis — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Ottawa: miimiins — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Persian: یکروزه (yek-ruze) — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Polish: jętka — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Portuguese: efêmera — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Portuguese: efemérida — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Russian: подёнка (podjónka) — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Serbo-Croatian: jednodnevka — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Serbo-Croatian: vodeni cvijet — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Serbo-Croatian: vodencvet — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Serbo-Croatian: vodeni cvet — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Slovak: podenka — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Spanish: efímera — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Spanish: cachipolla — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Swedish: dagslända — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Tamil: மேஃபிளை (mēfiḷai) — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Thai: แมลงชีปะขาว (má-lɛɛng-chii-bpà-kǎao) — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Thai: ชีปะขาว (chii-bpà-kǎao) — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Turkish: mayıs sineği — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Ukrainian: одноде́нка (odnodénka) — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Urdu: مَئی مَکّھی (maī makkhī) — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Vietnamese: thiêu thân — insect of order Ephemeroptera
  • Vietnamese: phù du — insect of order Ephemeroptera