Yea
adv, conj, intj, name, noun ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 An affirmative vote, usually but not always spoken dated
"Recently senators could fax in their yeas or nays to the committee chairman."
- 2 yes wordnet
- 1 Yes, indeed. dated, not-comparable
"1597–1598, Joseph Hall, Virgidemiarum Yea, and the prophet of the heav'nly lyre, / Great Solomon sings in the English quire […]"
- 2 Thus, so (now often accompanied by a hand gesture by way of measurement). Midwestern-US, dated, not-comparable
"This kid... What'd he look like? / Well, he was about yea high. You know, tiny like. I didn't get a good look at him, though. He was back in the kitchen."
- 1 not only so, but wordnet
- 1 Or even, or more like, nay. Introduces a stronger and more appropriate expression than the preceding one. archaic, dated
"[N]ow ſuch a liue vngodly, vvithout a care of doing the wil of the Lord (though they profeſſe him in their mouths, yea though they beleeue and acknowledge all the Articles of the Creed, yea haue knowledge of the Scripturs) yet if they liue vngodly, they deny God, and therefore ſhal be denied, […] (with modern spelling) [N]ow such a life ungodly, without a care of doing the will of the Lord (though they profess him in their mouths, yea though they believe and acknowledge all the Articles of the Creed, yea have knowledge of the Scriptures) yet if they live ungodly, they deny God, and therefore shall be denied"
- 1 Yeah, right, yes. Southern-US, US, Western, dated
- 2 Alternative spelling of yeah. alt-of, alternative, dated, nonstandard, proscribed
- 3 Misspelling of yay. alt-of, dated, misspelling
- 1 A town in the Shire of Murrindindi, central eastern Victoria, Australia.
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."
Etymology
From Middle English ye, ȝea, ya, ȝa, from Old English ġēa, iā (“yea, yes”), from Proto-West Germanic *jā. The modern pronunciation shows an irregular development of Early Modern English /ɛː/ to /eɪ/ in the standard language, probably from association with the antonym nay.
From yeah.
See yay.
More for "yea"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.