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(), adv.[Icel. nei; akin to E. no. See No, adv.] 1. No; -- a negative answer to a question asked, or a request made, now superseded by no. See Yes. And eke when I say "ye," ne say not "nay." Chaucer. I tell you nay; but except ye repent, ye shall all likewisr perish. Luke xiii. 3. And now do they thrust us out privily? nay, verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out. Acts xvi. 37. He that will not when he may, When he would he shall have nay. Old Prov. 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. Skeat. 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." Shak. Nay n.; pl. Nays (). 1. Denial; refusal. 2. a negative vote; one who votes in the negative. It is no nay, there is no denying it. [Obs.] haucer. Nay v. t. & i.To refuse. [Obs.] Holinshed. スポンサード リンク
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