nay
nay (nā) , adverb
[Icelandic nei; akin to English 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No; -- a negative answer to a question asked, or a request made, now superseded by no.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.
And eke when I say “ye,” ne say not “nay.”
I tell you nay; but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
And now do they thrust us out privily? nay, verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out.
He that will not when he may,
When he would he shall have nay.
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.
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.
Nay in this sense may be interchanged with yea. “Were he my brother, nay, my kingdom's heir.”
Nay ({not transcribed}) , noun
1.
Denial; refusal.
2.
A negative vote; one who votes in the negative.
Collocations (1)
It is no nay , there is no denying it. [Obsolete] — haucer
Nay , verb, transitive and intransitive
To refuse. [Obsolete] — Holinshed