From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
2. A negative vote; one who votes in the negative.
{It is no nay}, there is no denying it. [Obs.] --haucer.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
nay \nay\ (n[=a]), adverb [Icel. nei; akin to E. no. See {No}, adverb]
1. No; -- a negative answer to a question asked, or a request made, now superseded by {no}. Opposed to {aye} or {yea}. See also {Yes}. [1913 Webster +PJC]
And eke when I say ''ye,'' ne say not ''nay.'' --Chaucer.
I tell you nay; but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise 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.
Note: 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.
Note: Nay in this sense may be interchanged with yea. ''Were he my brother, nay, my kingdom's heir.'' --Shak.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Nay \Nay\, verb (used with an object) & i. To refuse. [Obs.] --Holinshed.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: a negative; "the nays have it" [ant: {yea}]
adverb
1: not this merely but also; not only so but; "each of us is peculiar, nay, in a sense unique"
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
116 Moby Thesaurus words for "nay": Australian ballot, Hare system, No, abnegation, au contraire, aye, ballot, canvass, canvassing, casting vote, certainly not, con, contradiction, counting heads, cumulative voting, deciding vote, declension, declination, declinature, declining, denial, deprivation, disagreement, disallowance, disclaimer, disclamation, disobedience, dissent, division, enfranchisement, fagot vote, far from it, franchise, graveyard vote, hand vote, holding back, indeed, interest, list system, naysaying, negation, negative, negative answer, negative attitude, negativeness, negativism, negativity, nein, nit, nix, no, no such thing, non, nonacceptance, noncompliance, nonconsent, nonobservance, nontransferable vote, nope, not, not a bit, not a jot, not a whit, not really, not so, nyet, plebiscite, plebiscitum, plumper, plural vote, poll, polling, preferential voting, pro, proportional representation, proxy, quite the contrary, recantation, record vote, referendum, refusal, rejection, representation, repudiation, retention, right to vote, rising vote, say, secret ballot, show of hands, side, single vote, snap vote, straw vote, suffrage, the affirmative, the negative, thumbs-down, to the contrary, transferable vote, truly, turndown, unwillingness, verily, viva voce, voice, voice vote, vote, voting, voting right, withholding, write-in, write-in vote, yea, yeas and nays, yes
Define.com is a registered nonprofit corporation dedicated solely to the global public interest and the advancement of humanity. It belongs to all of us who have a desire to promote electronic democracy, science, creativity, imagination, reason, critical thinking, peace, race and gender equality, civil rights, equal access to education, personal liberty, free speech, animal rights, compassionate and nonviolent parenting, social and economic justice, global monetary reform, Secular Humanism, cognitive liberty and a permanent cessation of The War on Drugs.
Let's see what we can do if we put our heads together.
0