gainsay

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And these no one will gainsay, at least no one who is versed even moderately in the institutions of the Church.

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Definitions (6)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. transitive verb To declare false; deny. See Synonyms at deny.
  2. transitive verb To oppose, especially by contradiction.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (2)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (1)

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English gainsayen : gain-, against (from Old English gegn-) + sayen, to say (from Old English secgan; see say).

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from Middle English *gainsayen, ʒeinseyen, abbreviation of aʒeinseyen, aʒenseyen, etc., transitive L. contradicere, etc. (= Old Danish gensige), speak against, from aʒein, aʒen, again, against, + sayen, etc., say: see againsay, again, gain-, and say.
  2. from gainsay, v. Cf. Old Swedish gensagn, Swedish gensaga = Old Danish gensagn, contradiction.
 

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/ˈgeɪnsei/
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