NAY
Nay, adv. Etym: [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 No; — a negative answer to a question asked, or a request made, now superseded by no.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.
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.
NAY
Nay, v. t. & i.
Defn: To refuse. [Obs.] Holinshed.