nay

• POS: Noun, Adverb

CIDE DICTIONARY

nay, adv. [Icel. nei; akin to E. no. See No, adv.].

•  No; -- a negative answer to a question asked, or a request made, now superseded by no. Opposed to aye or yea. See also Yes.  [1913 Webster]

  " 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.  [1913 Webster]

  "And eke when I say “ye,” ne say not “nay.”"  [1913 Webster]

  "I tell you nay; but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."  [1913 Webster]

  "And now do they thrust us out privily? nay, verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out."  [1913 Webster]

  "He that will not when he may,
  When he would he shall have nay."  [1913 Webster]
•  Not this merely, but also; not only so, but; -- used to mark the addition or substitution of a more explicit or more emphatic phrase.  [1913 Webster]

  " Nay in this sense may be interchanged with yea. “Were he my brother, nay, my kingdom's heir.”"  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

nay, n. 

•  Denial; refusal.  [1913 Webster]
•  A negative vote; one who votes in the negative.  [1913 Webster]

It is no nay, there is no denying it. [Obs.] haucer.

nay, v. t. & i. 

 To refuse.  Holinshed.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

nay, 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)

THESAURUS

nay

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

ROGET THESAURUS

nay

Negation

N negation, abnegation, denial, disavowal, disclaimer, abjuration, contradiction, contravention, recusation, protest, recusancy, flat contradiction, emphatic contradiction, emphatic denial, dementi, qualification, repudiation, retraction, confutation, refusal, prohibition, denying, denied, contradictory, negative, negatory, recusant, at issue upon, no, nay, not, nowise, not a bit, not a whit, not a jot, not at all, nohow, not in the least, not so, negative, negatory, no way, no such thing, nothing of the kind, nothing of the sort, quite the contrary, tout au contraire, far from it, tant s'en faut, on no account, in no respect, by no, by no manner of means, negatively, never, never in a million years, at no time, there never was a greater mistake, I know better, non haec in faedera, a thousand times no.