GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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Found 3 definitions

1.       
   nay (nā), 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 No; -- a negative answer to a question asked, or a request made, now superseded by no.  Opposed to aye or yea. See also Yes.
   
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   And eke when I say “ye,” ne say not “nay.” Chaucer.
   
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   I tell you nay; but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Luke xiii. 3.
   
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   And now do they thrust us out privily? nay, verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out. Acts xvi. 37.
   
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   He that will not when he may,
   
   When he would he shall have nay. Old Prov.
   
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   ☞ 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.
   
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   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.
   
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   ☞ Nay in this sense may be interchanged with yea. “Were he my brother, nay, my kingdom's heir.”  Shak.
   
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2.       
   Nay, n.; pl. Nays ().
   1. Denial; refusal.
   
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   2. A negative vote; one who votes in the negative.
   
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   It is no nay, there is no denying it. [Obs.]  haucer.
   
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3.       
   Nay, v. t. & i. To refuse. [Obs.]  Holinshed.
   
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