Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adverb No.
  • adverb And moreover.
  • noun A denial or refusal.
  • noun A negative vote or voter.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A denial; refusal.
  • noun A negative vote; hence, one who votes in the negative: as, the yeas and nays.
  • noun A native Egyptian transverse flute, usually with six holes.
  • To say nay; refuse.
  • To refuse; deny.
  • 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.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Denial; refusal.
  • noun A negative vote; one who votes in the negative.
  • noun [Obs.] there is no denying it.
  • verb obsolete To refuse.
  • adverb No; -- a negative answer to a question asked, or a request made, now superseded by no. Opposed to aye or yea. See also yes.
  • adverb Not this merely, but also; not only so, but; -- used to mark the addition or substitution of a more explicit or more emphatic phrase.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adverb archaic no
  • conjunction or even, or more like, or should I say. Introduces a stronger and more appropriate expression than the preceding one.
  • noun A vote against.
  • noun A person who voted against.
  • verb obsolete To refuse.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adverb not this merely but also; not only so but
  • noun a negative

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old Norse nei : ne, not; see ne in Indo-European roots + ei, ever; see aiw- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English nai, nei, from Old Norse nei ("no"), contraction of ne ("not") + ei ("ever"). More at no.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word nay.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Variant of ney.

    September 29, 2009