Category:Nay

Nay, adv. Etym: [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 No; -- a negative answer to a question asked, or a request made, Now superseded by no.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.

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.

Nay Nay, v. t. & i.

Defn: to refuse. [obs.] Holinshed.