▪ I. yea, adv. (n.) Now dial. and arch.
(jeɪ)
Forms: α. 1 ᵹæ, ᵹee, ᵹe, 2–5 (6 Sc.) ȝe, 4–5 ȝhe, 4–6 ȝee, ye, 4–7 yee, 5 yhe, 6 je. β. 1 ᵹea, 1–2 ia, 3–5 ȝea, (also 6 Sc.) ȝa, 4 yaa, iaa, ȝia, ȝai, 4–5 ȝaa, ȝha, ya, yai, 5 yha, yae, 5– yea; 4 ȝo, ioo, ȝoo, 5 yoe, 5–7 yoo. γ. 3 ȝei, yai, 4–5 ȝey, 5 yei, ȝeyȝe. δ. 1 ᵹiee, ᵹi, 4 yie, 5 (6 Sc.) ȝie, 8 dial. yoy, 9 dial. yi, yigh. ε. 3 ȝeoi, ȝui, 5 ȝoye.
[An affirmative particle having forms corresponding more or less exactly in all the other Teutonic languages: OFris. gê, jê, OS. jâ, (M)LG. ja, (M)Du., OHG., MHG. ja, jâ, (G. ja), ON. já, Goth. ja, jai, all derivable ultimately from a primitive Teut. *ja, je, which has undergone modification in different directions as the result of sentence stress or emotional emphasis.
OE. (WS.) ᵹéa combined with the corresp. Anglian ᵹé to produce the ME. type ȝe(e, ye(e; the Northumb. development of the Anglian form, ᵹ{iacu}e, ᵹ{iacu} (cf. Northumb. *sc{iacu}ep, sc{iacu}p = WS. scéap sheep), gave a ME. type ȝie, continued in mod. north. dial. in yi, yigh, yoi. In later WS. the falling diphthong of ᵹéa became a rising one, ᵹeá, iá, whence arose southern ȝo and northern ȝa (but cf. ON. já). In other respects the phonology of the English forms is obscure. The modern standard spelling yea and pronunciation (jeɪ) show arrested development of the vowel, but the pronunciation (jiː) is current locally. ME. ȝei, ȝey, ȝeyȝe seem to point back to a doubled form *ȝēȝe. The ε-forms ȝui, ȝoi constitute a distinct southern type, with possibly a modern representative in Hampshire yigh.]
A. adv. A word used to express affirmation or assent: now ordinarily replaced by yes.
1. a. As simple affirmative, in answer to a question not involving a negative: = yes 1.
For the distinction formerly observed between yea and yes, see nay adv.1 1 and yes 2.
In ME. ȝe is sometimes accompanied by a pronoun repeating the pronominal subj. of the question (see quots. from Ancren Riwle, a 1225, and cf. the first quot. from the same text in 1 c).
| 731 Bæda Hist. Eccl. v. ii, ‘Dicito,’ inquiens, ‘aliquod verbum, dicito Gæ [OE. transl. (c 900) cweð nu ᵹee],’ quod est, lingua Anglorum, verbum adfirmandi et consentiendi, id est, etiam. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. John xxi. 15 Þa cwæð se hælend..Simon iohannis lufast ðu me swiðor þænne ðas; He cwæð to him, ᵹea [Lind. & Rushw. ᵹee] drihten þu wast þæt ic þe lufiᵹe. c 1000 ælfric Gen. xxvii. 24 Eart þu Esau min sunu? And he cwæð: Ia leof, ic hit eom. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 47 Is hit god for to hiheren godes weordes and heom athalden? ȝe fuliwis. c 1200 Ormin 4452 Maȝȝ aniȝ mann slan oþerr mann & cwellenn himm wiþþ herrte? Ȝa full wel seȝȝþ þatt Latin boc. a 1225 St. Marher. 4 Hwet godd heiestu ant hersumest? Ich heie qð ha godd feder... Ȝe [see sense 4] qð he lude, leuestu ant luuest him þe reowðfulliche deide..on rode? Yai quoð heo. a 1225 Ancr. R. 52 Is hit nu so ouer vuel uor te toten utward? ȝe hit. Ibid. 408 Mei ich preouen ou þis? Ȝe ich sikerliche. a 1300 Cursor M. 772 ‘And wenis þou þat it be sua Sum he has said yow?’ ‘certes, ya!’ c 1330 Florice & Bl. (1857) 598 Ȝhe ne answerede nai ne ȝo. c 1350 Will. Palerne 268 ‘What? sone’, seide þe couherde ‘seidestow i was here?’ ‘Ȝa, sire, sertes’, seid þe child. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 1575 ‘Wolleþ ȝe ȝou defende ouþer ȝe wolleþ flen?’ ‘Ȝea, so god me mende.’ c 1420 Avow. Arth. xxiv, Gauan asshes, ‘Is hit soe?’ To tother knyȝt grauntus, ȝoe. c 1440 Generydes 294 His moder..Askyd medeyn if she hadde done wele And she seid yae. a 1450 Myrc Par. Pr. 69 Belevest thowe fully alle the pryncipalle articles of the Feithe..? The Sike persone answerethe, Yee. a 1466 Gregory Chron. in Hist. Coll. Cit. Lond. (Camden) 165 ‘Yf ye holde you welle plesyd..say you nowe, ye!’..And thenne alle the pepylle cryde with oo voyce, ‘Ye! ye!’ c 1470 Henry Wallace iv. 364 At him he speryt, all Scottis gyff thai be. Wallace said ‘ȝa’. c 1500 Lancelot 2843 ‘Madem, if ȝhe remembir, so it was The red knycht..That wencust al’... ‘Ȝha,’ quod the qwen, ‘rycht well remembir I’. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xlii. 15, I said, ‘Is this ȝour gouirnance, To tak men for thair luking heir?’ Bewty sayis, ‘Ȝa, schir’. 1526 Tindale Matt. xiii. 51 Jesus sayde vnto them; have ye vnderstonde all these thynges: they sayde, ye syr. a 1553 Udall Royster D. iii. iii. (Arb.) 46 R. Royster. Trowest thou so? M. Mery. Ye plain. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, iii. ii. 2 Rich. Barkloughly Castle call you this at hand? Au. Yea, my Lord. 1602 Contention betw. Liberalitie & Prodigalitie ii. iii. (Malone Soc.) 345 Van... What, still so hastily? Ten. Yoo by gisse, sir, tis high time. 1611 W. Adams Let. in Rundall Mem. Japon (Hakl. Soc.) 39 He asked whether our countrey had warres? I answered him yea. 1796 Pegge Derbicisms (E.D.S.) 86 Yoy, yes, from yea or ay rather than yes. 1859 Tennyson Marr. Geraint 688 ‘Look on it, child, and tell me if ye know it.’ And Enid..answer'd, ‘Yea, I know it’. 1865 ‘Artemus Ward’ His Bk., Shakers, When we broke up, sez I, ‘my pretty dears, ear I go you hav no objections, hav you, to a innersent kiss at partin?’ ‘Yay,’ thay sed. 1909 K. D. Wiggin Susanna & Sue i. 13 [Shaker Eldress loq.] ‘Yee, yee! I remember well!’ [footnote Yea is always thus pronounced among the Shakers.] |
b. Expressing assent to a statement, command, etc.:
= yes 3. (See also 4.)
| a 1000 Colloq. ælfric in Wr.-Wülcker 96 M. And maniᵹe fedaþ þa ᵹetemodon ofer sumor þæt eft hiᵹ habban ᵹearuwe. A. Ᵹea swa hiᵹ doþ. a 1300 Cursor M. 1246 ‘Sun,’ he said, ‘þou most now ga To paradis þat i com fra.’..‘Yai, sir, wist i wyderward Þat tat vncuth contre ware.’ a 1330 Otuel 303 ‘Euele mote he þriue & þe, Þat ferst failleþ of me & te.’ ‘Ȝe leue ȝa,’ quaþ otuwel þo. a 1375 Joseph Arim. 170, ‘I trouwe þat beo þi sone’ bi Iosaphe he seide. ‘Ȝe, sire, so he is. c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 2979 ‘Ye shul vnto me swere Þe lawes kepe til I agayn come,’..to which þei gan answere, ‘Ȝee, ȝee, man, ȝee!’ 1535 Coverdale Josh. xxiv. 22 Ye are witnesses ouer youre selues, that ye haue chosen you the Lorde, to serue him. And they sayde: Yee. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado ii. ii. 3 Ioh. It is so, the Count Claudio shal marry the daughter of Leonato. Bora. Yea my Lord, but I can crosse it. 1859 Tennyson Geraint & Enid 757 ‘Then, Enid, shall you ride Behind me.’ ‘Yea,’ said Enid, ‘let us go.’ |
c. Rarely in answer to a negative question (
obs.:
= yes 2 a), or in contradiction of a negative statement (now
dial.:
= yes 2 b).
| a 1000 Colloq. ælfric in Wr.-Wülcker 92 M. Ne canst þu huntian buton mid nettum? V. Ᵹea butan nettum huntian ic mæᵹ. a 1225 Ancr. R. 334 Nis nout, cweð he, God so grim ase ȝe him uore makieð. No, he seið, Dauid, ȝuihe [MS. T. ȝeoi he, MS. C. ȝeihe], and seið þenne hwareuore. Ibid. 392 Ne muhte he mid lesse gref habben ared us? Ȝe siker [v.rr. ȝuse I wis, ȝes I wis], ful lihtliche. 1382 Wyclif Matt. xvii. 23 Thei..seiden to hym, Ȝoure maister payeth nat tribute? And he seith, Ȝhe [1388 Ȝhis]. 1423 Jas. I Kingis Q. lxviii, Quhare[un]to lyve I langer? Wofullest wicht, and subiect vnto peyne; Of peyne? no: god wote, ȝa. 1876 Waugh Chimney Corner (1879) 149 ‘This is th' house isn't it, Matty?’ ‘Yigh. We're just i' time.’ 1886 Cunliffe Gloss. Rochdale-w.-Rossendale Wds. & Phr., Yi..is..a negative [answer] to a statement, as, ‘You have not been at home to-day,’ to which ‘yi’ means that the statement made is untrue. |
d. to say yea: to answer in the affirmative; hence, to give assent.
| c 1100 O.E. Chron. (MS. D.) an. 1067 Se kyng befealh ᵹeorne hire breðer oð þæt he cwæð ia wið. c 1300 Beket 36 This Gilbert seide ȝe. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 288 And to the kniht sche seide: ‘Yee.’ c 1400 Apol. Loll. 29 To a ferme..oiþer ȝie or nay. c 1440 Generydes 3164 They praed them to say In all this mater playnly ye or nay. 1513 Douglas æneis i. Prol. 93 Nocht fullie grantand, nor anis sayand ȝe. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 128 A folkemot was an assembly of people to say yea or nay to that which should be declared vnto them. 1683 Col. Rec. Pennsylv. I. 72 All yee that are willing y{supt} the last proposition should stand so as it is, see yee. |
† e. Standing for an affirmative dependent clause after a verb of saying or believing:
= yes 5.
Obs.| c 1375 Cursor M. 772 (Fairf.) And wenis þou þat hit is squa? Certis, ho sayde I traw ya [v.rr. ȝa, ȝe]. 1397 Rolls of Parlt. III. 379/1, I trowe rather ȝe than nay. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xxiv. 511 Alas, doo they not remembre me, I byleve better ye than nay. c 1500 Melusine 263 Yf they swere ye they are your enemyes and to the contrary, yf they swere that noo. |
† f. yea or no, after
whether, in an alternative dependent question
= ‘whether..or not’. So in an alternative dependent clause, as
would I yea or no = ‘whether I would or not’.
Obs.| 1515 in Leadam Sel. Cases Star Chamber (Selden Soc.) II. 93 To the Interrogatory Whethir thei had this by the Comen assent ye or noo [etc.]. c 1540 B.N.C. (Oxf.) Munim. 27. 112 (MS.) Whether J. S. was cosyn and heire of [A. B.], ye or naye, he knoweth not. 1577 Breton Floorish upon Fancie Wks. (Grosart) I. 7/1 Would I ye or no, I learnd some of his raging rules. 1670 in Extr. St. Papers rel. Friends Ser. iv. (1913) 313 In that time I shall tell thee whether I shall make them yea or no. 1727 De Foe Hist. Appar. iv. (1840) 30 Whether they really do converse familiarly with us, yea or no? |
† 2. Used as an ordinary adverb directly qualifying a clause or word: Even; truly, verily.
Obs. In the Lindisfarne and Rushworth glosses on the Gospels it
freq. renders L.
etiam,
jam = sóðl{iacu}ce,
witodl{iacu}ce.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Mark xiii. 22 Ad seducendos si potest fieri etiam electos, to ᵹesuicanne ᵹif mæᵹe wosa ᵹee ða ᵹecoreno. Ibid. John xvi. 32 Ecce uenit hora et iam uenit, heono cuom ðio tid ᵹee cuom [marg. ᵹi nu cummen; Rushw. & ᵹe comon]. c 1250 Hymn in Trin. Coll. Hom. App. 258 Iherd ȝe beo þin holi nome in heouene & in eorþe. a 1300 Cursor M. 13050 Þou luues hir yaa again þi liue. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 129 Þe kyng..forbeed þat any schulde selle hym woode ȝe [L. etiam] forto seþe his mete and vitailles wiþ. 1388 Wyclif Prov. xiv. 20 A pore man schal be hateful, ȝhe [Vulg. etiam], to his neiȝbore. c 1460 Wisdom 895 in Macro Plays 64 Schulde we leve þis lyue, ya whowe, We may a-mende wen we be sage. 1581 A. Hall Iliad iii. 58 Helene..did him earnestly behold, and swelling yea with wrath [etc.]. |
3. Used to introduce a statement, phrase, or word, stronger or more emphatic than that immediately preceding:
= ‘indeed’; ‘and more’:
= yes 4.
Often practically coinciding with
nay adv.1 5, which however properly expresses the contrast in degree between the statements, etc., whereas
yea expresses their identity in substance.
| a 1240 Ureisun in O.E. Hom. I. 185 He openeþ swa þe moder hire earmes hire leoue child for to cluppen, ȝe soþes. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 4797 Seint patric was þere monek & suþþe abbot þer Ȝe ar seint austin come mo þen an hundred ȝer. 13.. Cursor M. 19752 (Edin.) He fande a man unfere In parlesie gia aȝte ȝier. 13.. in Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1903) 261 Þou þeng wel on þese þinges yie, wat tou art, & wat tou were. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxvii. (Machor) 153 Þai..Ioy mad, ȝey, mare þan ma nemmyt be. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 10 Þei seyn þat an heþene philosofre..is wittiere and trewere þan almyȝti god, ȝe þat god is fals and a fole. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon cxlix. 565, I had rather haue lost .iiii. of my best cityes, ye and all my countre..destroyed. 1533 Gau Richt Vay 38 Giff we be the barnis of God thane ar we alsua heritours, ȝei heritours of God. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 106 How wantonly, yea, and how willingly haue we abused our golden time. 1605 Camden Rem. 3 As that the true Christian Religion was planted heere most auntiently by Ioseph of Arimathia,..yea by saint Peter, and saint Paul. c 1620 A. Hume Brit. Tongue (1865) 14 We see, not onelie in our idiom, but in the latin alsoe, one symbol to have sundrie soundes, ye, and that in one word; as lego, legis. 1671 Milton P.R. i. 117 Regents and Potentates, and Kings, yea gods, Of many a pleasant Realm. 1690 W. Walker Idiomat. Anglo-Lat. Pref. 3, I did not always particularly quote the place of my author..; yea sometimes I did not so much as set down my author at all. 1786 Wesley Jrnl. 3 May, Some of them use improper, yea, indecent, expressions in prayer. 1813 Shelley Q. Mab ii. 130 Those Pyramids shall fall! Yea! not a stone shall stand to tell The spot whereon they stood! 1859 Tennyson Marr. Geraint 704, I..kept it for a sweet surprise at morn. Yea, truly is it not a sweet surprise? |
4. a. Introducing a question or remark in reply to a statement, etc., expressing either vague assent or (more commonly) opposition or objection:
= ‘Indeed?’; ‘Well’, ‘well then’.
| a 1225 [see sense 1]. c 1230 Hali Meid. 25 Nu þu art iwedded, & of se heh se lahe iliht... Ȝei nu, hwat frut, & for hwuch þing meast hit is? 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xi. 33 ‘Ȝee, recche þe neuere,’ quod recchelesnes. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 3357 ‘Þis childe rose vp, and alyue he ys’... ‘Ȝe’, quod þe kyng, ‘he nasnot dede þo, y-wys.’ ‘Ȝeysse, for god’, quod þe knyȝt, ‘dede he was & his body golde.’ ‘Ȝoye, sire’, quod þe archebisshop.., ‘Mony grette meracle þis mayden has do.’ ‘Ȝe, syre archebysshop, holde þou þy clappe! For y ȝeue no by-leue þerto.’ c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 376 ‘Hald ȝow fra the Court, for ocht that may be; Ȝone man that thow outrayd Is not sa simpill as he said..’ ‘Ȝea, Dame, haue nane dreid of my lyfe to day.’ c 1520 Skelton Magnyf. 942 Fan... They fell a chydynge With Crafty Conuayaunce. Con. Ab. Ye, dyd they so? 1535 Coverdale Gen. iii. 1 The serpent..sayde vnto the woman: Yee, hath God sayde in dede: Ye shall not eate of all maner trees in the garden? 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. iii. ii. 411 Rob. Come, recreant... Dem. Yea, art thou there? 1605 ― Lear i. iv. 326 (Qo.) Yea, is it come to this? 1859 Tennyson Geraint & Enid 128 ‘Yonder comes a knight.’..‘Yea, but one? Wait here, and when he passes fall upon him.’ |
† b. As a mere introductory interjection, emphasizing the statement following.
Obs.| a 1450 Le Morte Arth. 1626 Kynge Arthur than loude spake A-monge hys knyghtis to the quene: ‘Ȝa, yonder is launcelot du lake, Yiff I hym euyr with syght haue sene.’ |
B. as
n. 1. a. An utterance of the word ‘yea’; an affirmative reply or statement; an expression of assent. (Usually opposed to
nay or
no: see also 3.)
| 1228 Mem. Ripon (Surtees) I. 53 Credendi..per suum na vel suum ya. a 1400 Cristene-mon & Jew 125 in Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. 488 Oþer a nay, or A ȝa? Soone tel þou me swa. c 1480 Henryson Orpheus & Eurydice 574 (Bann. MS.) Thingis..Till ȝe or na quhilk ar indefferent. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xv. 36 Sum micht haif ȝe, with littill cure, That hes oft nay, with grit labour. 1534 Tindale James v. 12 Sweare not... Let youre ye be ye, and youre naye naye. 1578 H. Wotton Courtlie Controv. 230 Take pitie of him which attendeth life or death of your yea or nay. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 413 My woing minde shall be exprest In russet yeas, and honest kersie noes. 1611 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. i. 538 Their No should be as welcome unto him as their Yea. 1714 tr. Joutel's Jrnl. Voy. Mexico (1719) 34 We observ'd that their Yea consisted in a Cry, fetch'd from the Bottom of the Throat. 1812 Jefferson Writ. (1830) IV. 178 Their nay is the yea of truth, and its best test. 1846 Trench Mirac. xxxiii. (1862) 473 Not seldom He gives even in the very act of seeming to deny; his Nay proving indeed a veiled Yea. |
b. More vaguely: Affirmation, assurance, certainty, absolute truth; a positive statement or principle.
| 1382 Wyclif 2 Cor. i. 18 For oure word the which was at ȝou, ther is not in it is [v.rr. ȝea, ȝhe] and nay [Vulg. est et non], but in it is is, that is, treuthe. 1526 Tindale 2 Cor. i. 19–20 Goddis sonne Jesus Christ..was not ye and naye: but in hym it was ye. For all the promises of God, in hym are ye [1881 R.V. in him is yea. For how many soever be the promises of God, in him is the yea]: and are in hym Amen. 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. ii. ix, Love God. This is the Everlasting Yea, wherein all contradiction is solved. |
2. An affirmative vote; a person who votes in the affirmative: usually
pl., opposed to
nays (or
noes).
Still in use in the
U.S. Congress. Cf. aye.
| 1657 Burton's Diary (1828) II. 58 After a short debate..the House was divided. The yeas went forth. 1706 Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) 203 'Twas carried in y⊇ Affirmative Yeas 141, Noes 71. 1781 Hatsell Prec. Proc. Ho. Comm. (1796) II. 106 note, If this question for adjournment takes place before four o'clock in the afternoon, and there is a division upon it, the Yeas go forth; if after four o'clock, the Noes. 1789 Massachusetts Spy 29 Jan. 3/2, 197 Members present—Yeas 101. 1838 Congr. Globe 24 Dec. 33/1 Mr. Tillinghast asked for the yeas and nays, which were ordered. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. xiii. I. 176 If one fifth of a quorum demand a call of yeas and nays, this is taken. |
3. a. yea and nay (or no): positive and negative statement (or command); affirmation and denial (or injunction and prohibition); sometimes, alternate affirmation and denial, vacillating statement, shilly-shallying. Also
attrib. (see C. below).
| 1382 Wyclif 2 Cor. i. 17 Is and not, or ȝhe and nay. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 297 He folwede þe kynges wille and his ȝee [v.r. ȝhe] and nay in al manere wise. 1526 Tindale 2 Cor. i. 18 Oure preachynge vnto you, was not ye and naye. 1540 Palsgr. Acolastus Declar. Names b 4, To flatter hym, and holde him vp with ye and nay. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. i. iv. 99 The very yea, & the no is, y⊇ French Doctor my Master [etc.]. 1720 Prior Conversation 34 These two went on, With yea and nay, and pro and con. 1886 Ruskin Præterita II. i. 27 There had been a good deal of dealers' yea and nay about it. 1913 H. Brown Our Renaissance ii. (1918) 56 Beyond yea or nay he inspired the greatest of all philosophers. |
b. by yea and nay (or no): a formula of asseveration in the form of, and substituted for, an oath (
cf. Matt. v. 34–37). ?
Obs.| 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. i. i. 54 Longa. You swore to that Berowne, and to the rest. Berow. By yea and nay sir, than I swore in iest. 1598 ― Merry W. i. i. 88. [1641 Brome Joviall Crew i. (1652) C 3, By yea-cock and naycock The Fields will afford us a Hedge or a Hay-cock.] 1661 W. N. etc. Merry Drollery i. 2 b, He swore by yea and nay He would have no denial. 1682 A. Behn False Count Prol. A ij b, By Yea and Nay, shee'll throw her self on you. 1828 Craven Gloss. s.v., ‘By fair yea and nay,’ by a solemn affirmation. a 1839 Praed Charades & Enigmas xvii, But still the Lady shook her head, And swore by yea and nay. |
C. Comb. yea-and-nay a. [
attrib. use of phrase: see B. 3], (
a) whose ‘communication’ is ‘yea, yea, nay, nay’;
spec. † yea-and-nay man, a quaker;
Richard Yea-and-Nay, a nickname for King Richard I; (
b) of indefinite or indeterminate character, ‘neither one thing nor another’, ambiguous; (
c) disposed to assent or deny indifferently or according to expediency; hesitating, vacillating, undecided; also
n. a Quaker; hence
yea-and-nayish adj. (
nonce-wd.) in sense (
b);
yea-forsooth a., addicted to saying ‘yea forsooth’ in the way of superficial assent;
yea-nay a. = yea-and-nay;
yea-say v. [after
nay-say v.],
intr. to say ‘yea’, to assent;
trans. to assent to; hence
yea-saying vbl. n. and ppl. a.;
yea-sayer, one who says ‘yea’ or who agrees; a person inclined by nature to assent, or to act in a positive manner;
yea-word, a word of assent.
| 1656 R. Flecknoe Diarium 35 Above all of your *yea and nay Man, take especial heed I pray. 1678 (title) A Yea and Nay Almanack for the people call'd Quakers. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Yea and Nay-Men, Quakers. 1775 F. Burney Early Diary Jan. (1889) II. 9 He was a yea and nay man not worth remembering. 1781 C. Johnston Hist. J. Juniper I. 81 One of your water-gruel, yea-and-nay good boys. 1807 Antid. Miseries Hum. Life 4 They were Yeas and Nays. ‘What's that?’ said I... ‘O quack, quack I suppose’, said the squire. 1828 L. Hunt Ld. Byron etc. I. 309 Shelley..had only to become a yea and nay man in the House of Commons, to be one of the richest men in Sussex. 1865 A. Manning Belforest I. 200, I hate yea-and-nay persons that don't care, and leave it to you. 1900 M. Hewlett (title) The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay. 1911 Fletcher & Kipling School Hist. Eng. 70 ‘Richard Yea and Nay’, so called because he spoke the truth. 1957 A. Duggan Devil's Brood xii. 165 Because he [sc. Bertrand de Born] could not persuade Richard to make war at his bidding he gave him the opprobrious nickname Yea-and-Nay. |
| 1777 F. Burney Early Diary July (1889) II. 202 Our journey proved very *yea and nayish. |
| 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, i. ii. 41 A Rascally-*yea-forsooth-knaue, to beare a Gentleman in hand, and then stand vpon Security. |
| 1847 Mrs. Gore Castles in Air iii, The executor was an infirm *yea-nay old gentleman. 1856 R. A. Vaughan Mystics viii. ii. (1860) II. 279 note1, It was indeed no time for compliment—for hesitant, yea-nay utterance upon the question. |
| 1875 Morris æneids vii. 615 Whom all men follow straight, The while their brazen *yea-saying the griding trumpets blare. Ibid. xii. 841 And yea-saying she bowed. 1887 ― Odyss. xiii. 47 So he spake; and all yea-said him and bade the thing to be. |
| 1934 Webster, Yea-sayer. 1940 ‘G. Orwell’ Inside Whale 176 There are the ‘progressives’, the yea-sayers, the Shaw-Wells type, always leaping forward to embrace the ego-projections which they mistake for the future. 1972 A. Friedman in Cox & Dyson 20th-Cent. Mind I. xii. 434 The Wilcoxes..are businessmen, robust, conservative, organized, practical yea⁓sayers who lead lives of ‘telegrams and anger’. |
| 1960 Partisan Rev. Fall 609 In literary criticism..artless enthusiasm..has modulated into..more restrained yea⁓saying. 1960 Times 14 Oct. 18/3 Matthew Smith's art, so much..in tune with the traditional, yea-saying materialism of French painting. 1972 Jrnl. Social Psychol. LXXXVI. 220 Subjects who obtained scores of 0, 1, and 11, 12 were dropped from the analysis as representing extremes of yeasaying or naysaying. |
| a 1861 Sir F. Palgrave Norm. & Eng. (1864) III. 82 Nor did any bashfulness real or conventional, delay his *yea-word. |
▪ II. yea, v. [f. prec.] intr. (or with
it): To say ‘yea’; to reply affirmatively:
opp. to
nay v. 2 b.
| 1598 Bp. Hall Sat. vi. i. 82 No more smell-feast Vitellio..loues him in his maw, loaths in his heart, Yet soothes, and yeas, and Nayes on eyther part. 1657 J. Goodwin Triers Tried 6 Such as will swallow their camels, and yea it, and nay it, with them from the one end of their faith unto the other. 1679 Establ. Test 23 A..Jesuit..can thou and thee, and yea and nay, as well as the best of them [sc. Quakers]. |