Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adv. No: All but four Democrats voted nay.
- adv. And moreover: He was ill-favored, nay, hideous.
- n. A denial or refusal.
- n. A negative vote or voter.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- No: an expression of negation or refusal.
- Not only so, but; and not only (that which has just been mentioned), but also; indeed; in point of fact: as, the Lord is willing, nay, he desires, that all should repent.
- to deny; refuse.
- n. A denial; refusal.
- n. A negative vote; hence, one who votes in the negative: as, the yeas and nays.
- To say nay; refuse.
- To refuse; deny.
- n. A native Egyptian transverse flute, usually with six holes.
Wiktionary
- adv. archaic no
- conj. or even, or more like, or should I say. Introduces a stronger and more appropriate expression than the preceding one.
- n. A vote against.
- n. A person who voted against.
- v. obsolete To refuse.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adv. No; -- a negative answer to a question asked, or a request made, now superseded by
no . Opposed toaye oryea . See also yes. - adv. Not this merely, but also; not only so, but; -- used to mark the addition or substitution of a more explicit or more emphatic phrase.
- n. Denial; refusal.
- n. A negative vote; one who votes in the negative.
- v. obsolete To refuse.
WordNet 3.0
- adv. not this merely but also; not only so but
- n. a negative
Etymologies
- From Middle English nai, nei, from Old Norse nei ("no"), contraction of ne ("not") + ei ("ever"). More at no. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English, from Old Norse nei : ne, not; see ne in Indo-European roots + ei, ever; see aiw- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Maybe I'm just sayin 'nay today, but my general impression of these new things is "meh".”
“The Health Department spokesman sniped back at Connecticut in nay case: "Connecticut has issued no specific advisories for American eel and weakfish, while New York State has issued restrictive advisories for these fish.”
“Be generic, yea or nay is about the only thing that staffer is going to remember as long as the letter is not crackpot, as you stated.”
“Specifically, the process of getting a yeah or nay from a single or couple of experts, is a rather odd criteria for being pubworthy.”
Tyler: A Plague on Both Your Houses, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
“What has been less clear to me, and you verge on it without saying yay or nay, is whether CT has the specificity, the overall tasting acumen in its collective midst to be a useful buying guide.”
Does the Wine Advocate buy over $700,000 worth of wine a year? | Dr Vino's wine blog
“I promise the number for nay is higher than the % of people think Obama is a Muslim.”
“Moreover, not one penny of loss was occasioned to me by the legislation of which I complain nay, rather I am, like tens of thousands of others, distinctly a gainer thereby.”
“In Old Norse Klakkr means both cloud and rock; nay, the English word cloud itself has been identified with the Anglo-Saxon clûd, rock.”
Myths and Myth-makers: Old Tales and Superstitions Interpreted by Comparative Mythology
“Latin, and Wednesday in English; nay, that in Sanskrit the same day is called _Budha-dina_ or _Budha-vâra_.”
Chips From A German Workshop, Vol. V. Miscellaneous Later Essays
“Seriously, Hardy’s point on the chardbono-nay is using the new marketing tools are useless (or should be) if you making crappy juice.”
Baboons, biting hands, Bordeaux disarray, sommeliers – sipped and spit | Dr Vino's wine blog
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘nay’.
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The weird, the wonderful and the plai...
Loved for their ingenuity, an exact description, or simply for the pure joy of it.
acidulous, aprosdoketon, higgledy-piggledy, lexicographical, ninja, audacious, somnabulist, shivaree, amorphous, quidnunc, glib, melancholy and 353 more...
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RELI - Genesis
Protagonists and relevant words in the Book of Creation (Source: King James Bible)
wrath, leaf, belly, prey, death, break, six, nod, dim, end, inn, judge and 1286 more...
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3-letter Scrabble Words
aah, aal, aas, aba, abo, abs, aby, ace, act, add, ado, ads and 995 more...
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3 Letter Words
A list of English words that are three letters long.
ace, act, ade, ado, add, ads, age, ago, ail, air, aim, all and 397 more...
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Whether 'Tis Nobler: Words From Hamlet
nay, 'tis, thee, haste, ho, liegemen, o, hath, holla, entreated, apparition, tush and 104 more...
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The Sog Collection
My big word list.
chaos, flaccid, empirical, flotsam, cacophony, grumble, assuage, awe, romance, mortality, coalesce, fortuitous and 3282 more...
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That's right, another list
muck-a-muck, ipse dixit, solipsism, anticlinal, analogical, amoral, alogical, synclinal, disinclined, iconological, studly, flitch and 179 more...
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Jacqueline's Words
glittery, horny, amazing, wanderlust, forlorn, lustily, nonchalant, cool, passive, submissive, roundabout, carousel and 558 more...
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The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote of ...
Words I met while reading Cervantes' story.
lance, hale, lanthorn-jaws, knight-errantry, nay, expostulate, puling, massy, agreeable delusions, pasteboard, bestrid, sallied and 148 more...
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Slang Thang
are you literate with the latest lingo??
dawg, a'ight, yo, wanksta, the 411, holler, nunya, peeps, flick, gig, tight, sweet and 8 more...
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thou shalt speak English
thee, thy, thou, thine, thyself, art, hast, mayhaps, good gog, shalt, ye, nay and 6 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for nay.
bilby Variant of ney. Sep 29, 2009