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nay - 6 dictionary results

nay

  [ney]
Use nay in a Sentence
–adverb
1. and not only so but; not only that but also; indeed: many good, nay, noble qualities.
2. Archaic. no (used in dissent, denial, or refusal).
–noun
3. a denial or refusal.
4. a negative vote or voter.
Origin:
1125–75; ME nai, nei < ON nei no, contr. of ne not + ei ever; see na, ay 1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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nay   (nā)   
adv.  
  1. No: All but four Democrats voted nay.
  2. And moreover: He was ill-favored, nay, hideous.
n.  
  1. A denial or refusal.
  2. A negative vote or voter.

[Middle English, from Old Norse nei : ne, not; see ne in Indo-European roots + ei, ever; see aiw- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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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 No; -- a negative answer to a question asked, or a request made, now superseded by no.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.

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. To refuse. [Obs.] --Holinshed.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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nay 
word of negation, c.1175, from O.N. nei, compound of ne "not" (see un-) + ei "ever." Nay-say "refusal" is from 1631.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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