▪ I. nay, v. Obs. exc. arch.
(neɪ)
[a. OF. neier, var. noier, nier:—L. negāre (see deny and renay), or, in later use, f. nay adv.]
1. † a. To refuse (to do something). Obs. rare.
| 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1836 He nay[ed] þat he nolde neghe in no wyse, Nauþer golde ne garysoun. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 65 An oþer nayed also & nurned þis cawse. c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. i. met. i. (1868) 4 Wiþ how deef an eere deeþ cruel tourneþ awey fro wrecches and naieþ to closen wepyng eyen. c 1440 Generydes 5248 Now must ye goo Furth in to perse, and this may not be nayde. |
† b. trans. To refuse (a thing) to one. Obs. rare.
| 1440 in Wars Eng. in France (Rolls) II. 441 The state of cardinal, which was nayed and denyed hym. c 1560 Rolland Seven Sages 286 Gif I had nayit to him battall. |
c. To give a refusal to (a person).
| a 1592 Greene Shepherd's Ode 86 The swain did woo; she was nice, Following fashion, nay'd him twice. 1839–48 Bailey Festus xxi. 269 Come, nay me not. |
† 2. a. To deny (a matter). Obs.
| c 1400 Beryn 2829 It myȝt nat be I-nayid, But Geffrey had..falsly hem betrayed. a 1425 Cursor M. 19180 (Trin.), We may not nay hit: so is hit kid. a 1529 Skelton Now sing we 4 The crosses mistry can not be nayd. 1560 Rolland Crt. Venus ii. 719 The quhilk ȝe can not nay. |
† b. intr. (or with it). To make denial; to say nay. Hence ˈnaying vbl. n. Obs. rare.
| 1387–8 T. Usk Test. Love i. vii. (Skeat) I. 7 Yea, quod she, but what if they hadden nayed? Howe woldest thou have maynteyned it? 1657 J. Goodwin Triers Tried 6 [They] refuse to grant the indulgence..but unto such as will..yea it, and nay it, with them from one end of their faith unto the other. 1680 J. C. Vind. Oaths (ed. 2) 30 If you will have every thing sinful which is above simple yea-ing and nay-ing. |
▪ II. nay, adv.1 and n.
(neɪ)
Forms: 2 nei, 3 næi, 2–4 nai, (3 naȝȝ), 4–6 (9) naye, 6 naie, na, 3– nay.
[a. ON. nei (Sw. and Da. nei), f. ne ne + ei ever = OE. á: cf. na adv.1 and adv.2]
A. adv.
1. a. A word used to express negation, dissent, denial, or refusal, in answer to some statement, question, command, etc. Now arch. or dial.
In older usage nay (like yea) was usually employed when the preceding statement, etc., had no negative word in it; when a negative was expressed, the usual answer was no (or yes). This distinction is clearly stated by Sir T. More in his Confutation of Tindale Wks. (1557) 448/1.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 27 He..weneð þat hit wulle him helpen. Nei, soðliche, nawiht. c 1200 Ormin 10658 [John] seȝȝde: naȝȝ, lef Laferrd, naȝȝ, Ne darr i þe nohht fullhtnenn. c 1250 Owl & Night. 464 Hwanne myn erende is ido, Scholde ich bileue? Nay; hwar to? c 1315 Shoreham vii. 670 Ȝef we þer-of ete, We scholde deye... Nay, quaþ þe fend, ac ȝe ne scholde. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. vi. 47 ‘Ye, leue Pers’, quod this palmers... ‘Nai, bi the peril of my soule’, quod Pers. c 1420 Lydg. Assembly of Gods 151 ‘Nay in dede’, they seyde, ‘we kepe noon in store’. 1470–85 Malory Arthur i. iii–v. 41 Found ye ony knyȝtes..seid sir ector. Nay said Arthur. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 211 Shall I goe to her? Naie I will not. 1593 G. Harvey Pierce's Super. 154 Ganging weeke? Na, a ganging day, I trow, is a large allowance. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. v. xii. 406 When Jesuites unto us answer Nay, They do not English speak, 't is Greek they say. 1819 Shelley Prometh. Unb. iii. iv. 95 Nay, mother, while my sister trims her lamp, 'Tis hard I should go darkling. 1840 Barham Ingol. Leg. Ser. i. Lay St. Nicholas ii, Now naye, in sooth it may hardly be. 1898 Westm. Gaz. 10 Jan. 2/1 The channel..between the Scylla of Aye and the Charybdis of Nay. |
b. Doubled for the sake of emphasis.
| c 1200 Vices & Virtues 9 Ne sweriȝeð, naiðer ne be heuene ne be ierðe ne bie nan oðer ðing, bute ia, ia, næi, nai. a 1300 Cursor M. 3729 ‘Was þou not at me right now?’.. ‘I?’ he said, ‘nai, nai, goddote’. c 1386 Chaucer Wife's T. 242 ‘Amended?’ quod this knight, ‘allas! nay, nay!’ 1470–85 Malory Arthur i. vi. 42 Nay nay..I was neuer your fader. 1528 Roy Rede me (Arb.) 61 Thynkest that with theym it is scant, Naye naye man, I the warant. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xxix, ‘What, turn glover at last, Conachar?’ said Simon;..‘Nay, nay, your hand was not framed for that’. 1841 Lane Arab. Nts. I. 84 The Efreet exclaimed, Nay, Nay!—to which the fisherman answered, Yea. |
c. In proverbs and phrases.
to nick (one) nay or with nay: see nick v.
| 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 130 He that will not when he may, When he would he shall haue nay. 1573 Baret Alv. s.v. Flatter, To praise to the intent to get fauer, to hold vp one with yea and nay. 1637 Rutherford Lett. cxxxviii. (1862) I. 330 With whom Scribes and Pharisees were at yea and nay and sharp contradiction. 1827 Coleridge Improvisatore, Answ. 17 Then came a restless state, 'twixt yea and nay. |
d. Occas. used as an introductory word, without any direct negation.
| c 1460 Play Sacram. 586 Master Brundyche. I haue gyven hyr a drynke made full well..Colle. Nay than she ys fulle saue. 1610 B. Jonson Alch. ii. iii, Well said, father! Nay, if he take you in hand, sir, [etc.]. |
2. to say nay: a. To make denial, prohibition, or refusal (to a thing or person).
| c 1320 Sir Tristr. 624 A ring he rauȝt him tite; Þe porter seyd nouȝt nay. c 1369 Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 1243 This was the grete Of hir answere. She sayde nay Alle outerly. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 4230 Some bad þe bolnyng cutt away, Some þai saide þarto nay. 1500 in Leadam Star Chamb. Cases (Selden Soc.) 110 They wold reteyne theym wo so euer wold sey nay. a 1542 Wyatt in Tottel's Misc. (Arb.) 63 Fortune semed at the last, That to her promise she said nay. 1771 A. Lindsay Auld Robin Gray, My heart it said nay. 1779 J. Lovell in J. Adams' Wks. (1854) IX. 481 Could I say nay to Deane..? |
b. To deny or refuse (one); to forbid, prohibit. Also, to refuse (a thing) to one.
| 1390 Gower Conf. I. 281, I..preie hire of som good ansuere:..Sche seieth me nay. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xix. 433 Noo thing shall be sayd nay to you. 1535 Coverdale 1 Kings xx. 7 He sent vnto me..for sylver & golde, & I haue not sayde him naye. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 94 b, The Ambassadours of the Cities,..requyryng a Copye, were sayde naye. 1648 Crashaw Poems (1858) 208 What dangers can there be dare say me nay? 1692 R. L'Estrange Fables xxxi, The Fox made Several Excuses,..but the Stork..would not be said Nay. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 105 ¶3 He would not say her nay in any Thing. 1842 Tennyson Will Waterproof 92 Long and largely we carouse As who shall say me nay. 1878 R. B. Smith Carthage 299 On he went through Latium.., no one daring to say him nay, till he pitched his camp upon the Arno. |
† c. To express dissent or contradiction. Obs.
| c 1325 Song of Yesterday 171 in E.E.P. (1862) 137 Sum men seiþ þat deþ is a þef..And .i. say nay. c 1386 Chaucer Can. Yeom. Prol. & T. 786 Mighte no man saye nay But that they were as hem oughte be. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxliv. 305 He was examyned of certayne poyntes that were put vpon hym and he sayd not nay. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 772, I say not nay, but that it were very conuenient. |
† 3. a. without nay, beyond doubt or dispute, assuredly, certainly. Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 1283 Seth went him forth wit-outen nai To paradis. ? a 1400 Arthur 401 Þat name wyþoute nay Hyt bereþ ȝut in-to þis day. c 1480 Henryson Mor. Fab., Lion & Mouse 51 My natall land is Rome withouttin nay. 1509 Barclay Shyp of Folys (1570) 237 Vnder foote of fooles without nay, Philosophie lieth oppressed. 1563 J. Man Musculus' Commonpl. 31 We do al declare without nay..that this law is wryten within us. |
† b. So without any (or all) nay. (Cf. B. 2.)
| c 1460 Play Sacram. 93 In all maner of londis w{supt}out ony naye My merchandyse renneth. 1563 J. Man Musculus' Commonpl. 286 We be without any naye..sealed up unto the fayth of the holye Trinitie. 1581 Marbeck Bk. of Notes 759 Without al nay (sayth Musculus) it conteyneth the prophesie of the proud King of Babylon. 1621 Bp. R. Montagu Diatribæ 156 Without all nay, the Church of England is of his minde. |
† 4. a. In elliptical uses, sometimes passing into the sense of ‘not’. Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 10441 Ne wat þou noght, it semes nai, Quat a fest it es to dai? 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. viii. 135 Bote Catoun construweþ hit nay An[d] Canonistres boþe. 1428 in Surtees Misc. (1890) 2 Had noght Thomas Bracebrygg counseld hym nay and lettid hym. 1480 Robt. Devyll 860 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 252 Robert poynted as naye; And woulde have them to beare the bed awaye. 1525 Ld. Berners Froiss. II. 378 Every thyng consydred they thought it best naye. |
† b. or nay, or not, or no. Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 8432 He sal be king, qua wil or nai. Ibid. 13451, I dar noght sai quere þis was þat ilk or nai. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 20 b, Demaunded of hym..whether he was in purgatory or nay. 1583 Rich Phylotus (1835) 20 Let me aske you this question, dooe you knowe my father, or naie. 1709 J. Johnson Clergym. Vade M. ii. p. lx, By any other means to force and drive People, whether they will or nay, into Compliance. |
5. a. Used to introduce a more correct, precise, or emphatic statement than the one first made.
| 1585–6 Earl of Leicester Corr. (Camden) 380 We haue but a litle monie, only so much, na, skant so much, as shall bringe vs together. 1634 Ford Perk. Warbeck i. i, What folly, nay, what madness 'twere to lift A finger up. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacræ iii. ii. §14 Nay, Epicurus himself takes away any center of that motion of Atoms. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 93 ¶2 Several Hours of the Day hang upon our Hands, nay we wish away whole Years. 1778 F. Burney Evelina ii, I have weighty, nay unanswerable reasons. 1817 Jas. Mill Brit. India II. v. vii. 623 The terms of this agreement, the gentlemen..arraigned as inadequate, nay humiliating. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 598 He would see Bristol burned down, he said, nay, he would burn it down himself, rather than [etc.]. 1884 tr. Lotze's Metaph. 262 Nay if we go further and make the provisional admission that [etc.]. |
b. nay even. (More emphatic than even alone.)
| 1709 Stanhope Paraphr. IV. 4 Can the Jews in particular pretend Ignorance Nay even of this Dispensation..? 1868 C. M. Yonge Cameos Ser. i. xxiii. 171 Such alliances as might obtain a still wider power for them; nay, even the kingdom of France. 1884 J. Gilmour Mongols xvii. 205 He is surprised to find that a..teacher of Christianity may kill vermin, eat flesh, nay even marry a wife. |
B. n.
1. An utterance of the word ‘nay’; a negative reply or vote (U.S.); a denial, refusal, or prohibition.
| 13.. Cursor M. 19773 (Edinb.), Petir nickid þaim na nai. 13.. Cristene-mon & Jew (Vernon MS.) 125 Oþer a nay, or a ȝa? Soone tel þou me swa! 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xvi. (Percy Soc.) 65 A nay of you myght cause my herte to breke. 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 29 Ye maie..mend three naies with one yee. 1583 T. Stocker Civ. Warres Lowe C. iii. 75 For the tenth penny which the Duke woulde haue no nay of. 1613 Radcliffe Lett. 26 Mar. (T.), There is a faire bedde there also, which she determineth to sell, and would have you to have the first nay of it. 1643 Trapp Comm. Gen. xxxii. 26 He would have no nay at Gods hands. 1774 in Vermont Hist. Soc. Coll. (1870) I. 8 Passed in the affirmative—all yeas, no nays. 1807 J. Turner Let. 23 Jan. in J. Steele Papers (1924) II. 492 A Bill has passed the H.R. repealing the duty on salt with only 5 nays. 1812 Jefferson Writ. (1830) IV. 178 It is a notification to the factionaries that their nay is the yea of truth. 1844 Mrs. Browning Lost Bower x, A straight walk, unadvised by The least mischief worth a nay. 1871 Trans. Illinois Agric. Soc. VIII. 5 Mr. Dalton demanded the yeas and nays. 1896 Omaha Bee 18 Feb. 3/5 The members had taken the alarm and numerous ‘nays’ came back in response to the roll call. |
† 2. it (this, that, there) is no nay: a. = ‘It cannot be denied’. Also simply no nay. Obs.
| c 1386 Chaucer Clerk's T. 1083 This world is nat so strong, it is no nay, As it hath been in olde tymes yore. c 1400 Gamelyn 429, I wot wel for sothe that this is no nay. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. ii. 38 For no nay is That snaylis rather latte hem for to growe. c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 691 Heir is Ryaltie,..With all nobilnes anournit, and that is na nay. 1526 Skelton Magnyf. 2457 Without fayle, syr, that is no nay. ? 1554 Coverdale Hope of Faithful Pref., The Lord, no nay, shall grant our request. 1627 W. Sclater Exp. 2 Thess. (1629) 141 No nay, but Rome must be the Church, against which the gates of hell preuaile not. |
† b. = ‘No refusal was possible’. Obs. rare—1.
| a 1643 W. Browne (T.), There was no nay, but I must in. |
▪ III. † nay, adv.2 Obs.
[f. ne + ay adv.]
Never.
| c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode ii. cix. (1869) 116 But nay of his song he ne rouhte. a 1547 Surrey Poems, Descr. Restless State 184 Thus shall my heart nay part her fro. 1575 Gascoigne Fruits of War ccv, I beare it well in minde And shall it nay forget whiles lyfe doth last. |
▪ IV. † nay
variant of na conj.2 than. Obs.
| 1533 Gau Richt Vay 94 Ramember that thy marcie and grace is..greittar nay al our sinnis. Ibid. 103. |
▪ V. nay
obs. Sc. variant of na, no a.