ZebraWords.com - The Definition of 'Nay', Synonyms of 'Nay' & More on 'Nay'

1. WordNet® 3.0 (2006)

nay
    adv 1: not this merely but also; not only so but; "each of us is
           peculiar, nay, in a sense unique"
    n 1: a negative; "the nays have it" [ant: yea]

2. The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

nay \nay\ (n[=a]), 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      made, now superseded by no. Opposed to aye or yea.
      See also Yes.
      [1913 Webster +PJC]

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

            I tell you nay; but except ye repent, ye shall all
            likewise perish.                      --Luke xiii.
                                                  3.
      [1913 Webster]

            And now do they thrust us out privily? nay, verily;
            but let them come themselves and fetch us out.
                                                  --Acts xvi.
                                                  37.
      [1913 Webster]

            He that will not when he may,
            When he would he shall have nay.      --Old Prov.
      [1913 Webster]

   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.
         [1913 Webster]

   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.
      [1913 Webster]

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

3. The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Nay \Nay\, n.; pl. Nays.
   1. Denial; refusal.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. A negative vote; one who votes in the negative.
      [1913 Webster]

   It is no nay, there is no denying it. [Obs.] --haucer.
      [1913 Webster]

4. The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Nay \Nay\, v. t. & i.
   To refuse. [Obs.] --Holinshed.
   [1913 Webster]

Thesaurus Results for Nay:

1. Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

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

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