Adjacent Words

Nay definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

NAY, adv. [a contracted word, to deny]
1. No; a word that expresses negation.
I tell you nay, but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Luke 13.
2. It expresses also refusal.
He that will not when he may, When he would he shall have nay.
[In these senses it is now rarely used; no being substituted.]
3. Not only so; not this alone; intimating that something is to be added y way of amplification. He requested an answer; nay, he urged it.
NAY, n. Denial, refusal.
NAY, v.t. To refuse. [Not in use]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a negative; "the nays have it" [ant: yea] adv
1: not this merely but also; not only so but; "each of us is peculiar, nay, in a sense unique"

Merriam Webster's

I. adverb Etymology: Middle English, from Old Norse nei, from ne not + ei ever — more at no, aye Date: 13th century no II. noun Date: 14th century 1. denial, refusal 2. a. a negative reply or vote b. one who votes no III. conjunction Date: 1560 not merely this but also ; not only so but <the letter made him happy, nay, ecstatic>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adv. & n. --adv. 1 or rather; and even; and more than that (impressive, nay, magnificent). 2 archaic = NO(2) adv. 1. --n. 1 the word 'nay'. 2 a negative vote (counted 16 nays). Etymology: ME f. ON nei f. ne not + ei AYE(2)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Nay Nay, adv. [Icel. nei; akin to E. no. See No, adv.] 1. No; -- a negative answer to a question asked, or a request made, now superseded by no. See Yes. And eke when I say ``ye,'' ne say not ``nay.'' --Chaucer. I tell you nay; but except ye repent, ye shall all likewisr perish. --Luke xiii. 3. And now do they thrust us out privily? nay, verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out. --Acts xvi. 37. He that will not when he may, When he would he shall have nay. --Old Prov. Note: Before the time of Henry VIII. nay was used to answer simple questions, and no was used when the form of the question involved a negative expression; nay was the simple form, no the emphatic. --Skeat. 2. Not this merely, but also; not only so, but; -- used to mark the addition or substitution of a more explicit or more emphatic phrase. Note: Nay in this sense may be interchanged with yea. ``Were he my brother, nay, my kingdom's heir.'' --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Nay Nay, n.; pl. Nays. 1. Denial; refusal. 2. a negative vote; one who votes in the negative. It is no nay, there is no denying it. [Obs.] --haucer.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Nay Nay, v. t. & i. To refuse. [Obs.] --Holinshed.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. You use nay in front of a stronger word or phrase which you feel is more correct than the one you have just used and helps to emphasize the point you are making. (FORMAL) Long essays, nay, whole books have been written on this. = indeed ADV: ADV with cl/group [emphasis] 2. Nay is sometimes used to mean 'no' when talking about people voting against something or refusing to give consent for something. The House of Commons can merely say yea or nay to the executive judgment. CONVENTION 3. Nay is an old-fashioned, literary, or dialect word for 'no'. CONVENTION [formulae]

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

ad. 1. No. 2. Not only so, but more; not this only, but also.

Moby Thesaurus

Australian ballot, Hare system, No, abnegation, au contraire, aye, ballot, canvass, canvassing, casting vote, certainly not, con, contradiction, counting heads, cumulative voting, deciding vote, declension, declination, declinature, declining, denial, deprivation, disagreement, disallowance, disclaimer, disclamation, disobedience, dissent, division, enfranchisement, fagot vote, far from it, franchise, graveyard vote, hand vote, holding back, indeed, interest, list system, naysaying, negation, negative, negative answer, negative attitude, negativeness, negativism, negativity, nein, nit, nix, no, no such thing, non, nonacceptance, noncompliance, nonconsent, nonobservance, nontransferable vote, nope, not, not a bit, not a jot, not a whit, not really, not so, nyet, plebiscite, plebiscitum, plumper, plural vote, poll, polling, preferential voting, pro, proportional representation, proxy, quite the contrary, recantation, record vote, referendum, refusal, rejection, representation, repudiation, retention, right to vote, rising vote, say, secret ballot, show of hands, side, single vote, snap vote, straw vote, suffrage, the affirmative, the negative, thumbs-down, to the contrary, transferable vote, truly, turndown, unwillingness, verily, viva voce, voice, voice vote, vote, voting, voting right, withholding, write-in, write-in vote, yea, yeas and nays, yes