nay

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English nai, also nei,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old Norse nei (“no”),^{[4][5][6][7][8]} a compound of ne (“not”) and ei (“ever”).^{[5][4][7][9][10]} The OED takes it from early Scandinavian, comparing Old Swedish næi, Swedish nej, Old Danish ney and Danish nej;^[11][12] Barnhart likewise speaks of a Scandinavian source.^[13] The first element goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ne- (“not”), the source of no and not, and the second to Proto-Germanic *aiwi-, from Proto-Indo-European *aiw- (“vital force, life; long life, eternity”), the source of aye.^[8][5] Weekley explains it as "not ever", and notes that it was at first used differently from no.^[10] Johnson (1755) derived it from Saxon, or from ne and aye.^[14] The verb is partly borrowed from Anglo-Norman naier, a variant of Old French nier (“to renounce, deny, refuse”), from Latin negō, and was later formed again from the adverb.^[11][15]

Earliest recorded meaning

No, as a reply to a question: in the Ormulum (about 1175), where John the Baptist, asked whether he is Elijah come again, answers Naȝȝ.^[11][2][8]

Semantic evolution

Already in Middle English the word was doubled for emphasis and could open a sentence without negating anything;^[11][2] the phrase to say nay, to contradict or refuse, is recorded from before 1300.^[11][15] The noun, a denial or refusal, is recorded from about 1390 in the MED,^[2] and the MWU dates it to the 14th century.^[4] Chaucer used the word more than 130 times as an interjection, and also in it is no nay, it cannot be denied.^[16][17] From the late 16th century nay also introduced a stronger word or phrase, meaning "or rather, and even",^[15] the use Johnson (1755) called "a word of amplification".^[14] In general use it was replaced by no, except in voting by voice, where the yeas and nays or ayes and nays are still counted;^[4][18] in Scotland, Ireland and the north of England it remained the everyday word in dialect,^[19][11] and in 1963 it was still used in Shetland, Aberdeenshire, Ayrshire and Roxburghshire.^[11]

Timeline

• c. 1175 – no, as an answer; also doubled, nay, nay.^[11][2]
• before 1300 – to say nay, to contradict or refuse.^[11]
• before 1325 – an introductory word without negation.^[11][13]
• c. 1390 – noun, a denial or refusal.^[2]
• before 1400 – verb, to deny.^[11]
• late 16th century – or rather, and even.^[15]
• 1755 – Johnson's "a word of amplification".^[14]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Used to add a stronger or more exact word to what has just been said; or rather, and even: The repairs will take weeks, nay months.^[4][18][7]
2. (archaic or dialect) No.^[18][4][15]

Noun

1. A vote against a proposal, or a negative answer: The motion failed by twelve nays to nine yeas.^[4][18][7]
2. A person who votes against a proposal.^[4][18]
3. A denial, refusal or prohibition.^[4][2]

Verb

1. (archaic) To refuse or deny; to say nay.^[15][11]

Word family

• naysay
• naysayer

Related words

• no
• not
• aye
• ay
• deny
• negate

Usage notes

Collins labels nay as "no" chiefly archaic or dialect, except in voting by voice.^[18] The OED records an obsolete nay meaning "never" (1547–94), formed from ne and aye.^[11] The Middle Eastern end-blown flute of cane or reed, also spelled nay, takes its name from Arabic, from Persian.^[4]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
10. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
13. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
14. ^ a b c Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
15. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
16. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
17. ^ Stratmann, Francis Henry (1891), A Middle-English Dictionary, revised by Henry Bradley, Oxford: Clarendon Press
18. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
19. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)