Nay
adj, adv, intj, name, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A vote against.
"I vote nay, even though the motion is popular, because I would rather be right than popular."
- 2 used to express negation wordnet
- 3 A person who voted against.
"The vote is 4 in favor and 20 opposed; the nays have it."
- 4 A denial; a refusal. archaic
"And my povert' no wight nor can nor may Make comparison, it is no nay."
- 1 To refuse. obsolete
"the cardinall then being bishop of Winchester, tooke vpon him the state of cardinall, which was naied and denaied him, by the king of most noble memorie"
- 1 Nary; not any not-comparable, obsolete
"'Tis easy to do this experiment, though nay substance will do: we shall need a special one."
- 1 No. archaic, dialectal, not-comparable
"Duke Magnus, Duke Magnus, plight thee to me, I pray you still so freely; Say me not nay, but yes, yes!"
- 2 Introducing a statement, without direct negation. archaic, dialectal, not-comparable
"Nay, what are you smiling at so damnably?"
- 3 Or rather, or should I say; moreover (introducing a stronger and more appropriate expression than the preceding one). archaic, not-comparable
"His face was dirty, nay, filthy."
- 1 not this merely but also; not only so but wordnet
- 1 No. archaic
- 1 Abbreviation of Nayarit: a state of Mexico. abbreviation, alt-of
- 2 A surname.
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"The chief object of education is not to learn things; nay, the chief object of education is to unlearn things."
Etymology
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. The verb is from Middle English nayen (“to refuse, deny, gainsay”), from the interjection and adverb above.
Related phrases
More for "nay"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.