nay

Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to: navigation, search
See also: NAY, này, näy, nạy, and ŋay

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)

  1. (archaic) no

Derived terms[edit]

Conjunction[edit]

nay

  1. 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]

Wikipedia has an article on:

Wikipedia

Noun[edit]

nay (plural nays)

  1. A vote against.
    I vote nay, even though the motion is popular, because I would rather be right than popular.
  2. 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)

  1. (obsolete) To refuse.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Holinshed to this entry?)

Adjective[edit]

  1. nary

Anagrams[edit]

Retrieved from "http://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=nay&oldid=30795222"