4  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Nay  \Nay\,  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  made  now  superseded  by  no  See  {Yes}.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. 
 
  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  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Nay  \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. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Nay  \Nay\,  v.  t.  &  i. 
  To  refuse.  [Obs.]  --Holinshed. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  nay 
  n  :  a  negative;  "the  nays  have  it"  [ant:  {yea}] 
  adv  :  not  this  merely  but  also  not  only  so  but  "each  of  us  is 
  peculiar,  nay,  in  a  sense  unique" 

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