Nay Meaning
/neɪ/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
advNo.
advIntroducing a statement, without direct negation.
Sentence Examples
Nay, then, I will try it.
CEFR Practice Quiz
He strongly disagreed with the new proposal, so he said ____ during the vote.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
When the vote was called, he loudly shouted '____' to show his opposition.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English nai, nei, from Old Norse nei (“no”), contraction of ne (“not”) + ei (“ever”), itself from Proto-Germanic *nai (“never”), *nē (“not”). More at no. The verb is from Middle English nayen (“to refuse, deny, gainsay”), from the interjection and adverb above.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Duke Magnus, Duke Magnus, plight thee to me,
I pray you still so freely;
Say me not nay, but yes, yes!"
— 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 243:
"Nay, what are you smiling at so damnably?"
— 1876, Henry James, Roderick Hudson:
"[…] And proved not only horse, but cows, / Nay pigs, were of the elder house: / For beasts, when man was but a piece / Of earth himself, did th' earth possess."
— 1663, Samuel Butler, Hudibras, part 1, canto 2:
"And even in our wildest and most wandering reveries, nay in our very dreams, we shall find, if we reflect, that the imagination ran not altogether at adventures,"
— 1748, David Hume, chapter 18, in Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral, London: Oxford University Press, published 1973:
"And all rejected: Has this course been used? Arch. We grant it has not; but— King. Nay, give me leave,— I urge, from your own grant, it has not been. If then, in process of a petty sum, Both parties having not been fully heard,[…]"
— 2016 February 2, John Dryden, The works of John Dryden, Vol.7: Top English Literature (Top English Literature), VM eBooks:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
He strongly disagreed with the new proposal, so he said ____ during the vote.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
When the vote was called, he loudly shouted '____' to show his opposition.