nay

From Middle English nai, nei, from Old Norse nei (“no”), contraction of ne (“not”) + ei (“ever”), itself from Proto-Germanic *nai (“never”), *nē (“not”). More at no.

• enPR: nā, IPA^(key): /neɪ/

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• Homophones: nee, neigh
• Rhymes: -eɪ

nay

1. (archaic) no

In Early Modern English, nay was used to respond to a positive question, while no was used to respond to a negative question. Over time, this distinction disappeared.

• nay-say
• naysayer

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, Samuel Butler, 'Hudibras', 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, chapter 18, in 'Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral', London: Oxford University Press, published 1973:

     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,

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.

3. (archaic) A denial; a refusal.
   • 14th c, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Clerk's Tale”, in D. Laing Purves, editor, 'The Canterbury Tales and Faerie Queene, with Other Poems of Chaucer and Spenser'‎, published 1870, page 100:

     And my povert' no wight nor can nor may
     Make comparison, it is no nay.

• (A vote against): yea

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?)

nay (not comparable)

1. nary

• AYN, Ayn, NYA, Yan, any, any%, ayn, yan

nay

1. abbreviation of nanay, the informal form of ina

Cognate with này.

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• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [naj˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [naj˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [naj˧˧]

nay (𠉞, 𫢩, 𬁉)

1. now

   ngày nay ― these days/nowadays

• này (“this”)