yea

English

Etymology

From Middle English ye, ȝea, from Old English ġēa, iā (“yea, yes”), from Proto-Germanic *ja (“yes, thus, so”), from Proto-Indo-European *yē (“already”). Cognate with Scots yea, ya (“yes, yea, indeed, so”), Saterland Frisian ja, jee (“yes”), West Frisian ja (“yes”), Dutch ja (“yes”), German ja (“yes, yea”), Swedish ja, jo (“yes, well, indeed”), Icelandic já (“yes”), Latin iam (“now, already”), Italian già (“now, already”), Spanish ya (“now, already”). Doublet of yeah.

Pronunciation

• enPR: yā, IPA^(key): /jeɪ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪ
• Homophone: yay

Adverb

yea (not comparable)

1. (dated) Yes.
   • Bishop Joseph Hall

     Yea, have not too many amongst us added to their unreformation an impudence in sinning?

2. Thus, so (now often accompanied by a hand gesture).

   The pony was yea high.

Synonyms

• (yes): aye, yep, yes, yup, yeah, yigh (when contradicting)

Antonyms

• nay
• no

Conjunction

yea

1. (archaic) Or even, or more like, nay. Introduces a stronger and more appropriate expression than the preceding one.
   • c. 1633, The Flea, by John Donne

     O stay, three lives in one flea spare,

     Where we almost, yea, more than married are.

Interjection

yea

1. (in some dialects of American English, including Southern, Western, and African American Vernacular) Yeah, right, yes.
2. Misspelling of yay.
3. Misspelling of yeah. [1]

Noun

yea (plural yeas)

1. An affirmative vote, usually but not always spoken
   • 2009, January 6, Still Broken After All These Years^[2]:

     Recently senators could fax in their yeas or nays to the committee chairman.

Antonyms

• (An affirmative vote): nay

Anagrams

• aye