Thesaurus: nay

Related headwords

Definitions

1. adv. No; -- a negative answer to a question asked, or a request made, now superseded by no. See Yes.
2. 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.
3. n. Denial; refusal.
4. n. a negative vote; one who votes in the negative.
5. v. t. & i. To refuse.
6. n. used to express negation
7. adv. not this merely but also; not only so but
8. 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 No; -- a negative answer to a question asked, or a request made, now superseded by no.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. 1. Denial; refusal. 2. a negative vote; one who votes in the negative. It is no nay, there is no denying it. [Obs.] haucer. To refuse. [Obs.] Holinshed.
9. To refuse. [Obs.] Holinshed.
10. u:53/n:47 n. a negative r. not this merely but also; not only so but