nay
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
English [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From Middle English nai, nei, from Old Norse nei (“no”), contraction of ne (“not”) + ei (“ever”). More at no.
Pronunciation [edit]
Adverb [edit]
nay (not comparable)
Derived terms [edit]
Conjunction [edit]
nay
- or even, or more like, or should I say. Introduces a stronger and more appropriate expression than the preceding one.
- His face was dirty, nay filthy.
- 1663, Hudibras, by Samuel Butler, part 1, canto 2
- [...] And proved not only horse, but cows, / Nay pigs, were of the elder house: / For beasts, when man was but a piece / Of earth himself, did th' earth possess.
- 1748. David Hume. Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral. London: Oxford University Press, 1973. § 18.
- And even in our wildest and most wandering reveries, nay in our very dreams, we shall find, if we reflect, that the imagination ran not altogether at adventures,
Translations [edit]
or even
Noun [edit]
nay (plural nays)
- A vote against.
- I vote nay, even though the motion is popular, because I would rather be right than popular.
- A person who voted against.
- The vote is 4 in favor and 20 opposed, the nays have it.
Verb [edit]
nay (third-person singular simple present nays, present participle naying, simple past and past participle nayed)
- (obsolete) To refuse.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Holinshed to this entry?)
