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It is not only important, but, in a degree necessary, that the people of this country, should have an American Dictionary of the English language; for, although the body of the language is the same as in England, and it is desirable to perpetuate that sameness, yet some differences must exist. Language is the expression of ideas; and if the people of one country cannot preserve an identity of ideas, they cannot retain an identity of language. |
NAY, adv. [a contracted word, to deny]
NAY, n. Denial, refusal.
NAY, v.t. To refuse. [Not in use]
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or a request made, now superseded by no.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, * 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. Not this merely, but also; not only so,
but; -- used to mark the addition or substitution of a more explicit
or more emphatic phrase.
* Nay in this sense may be interchanged with yea. "Were he my brother, nay, my kingdom's heir." Shak. Denial;
refusal.
a negative vote; one who votes in the
negative.
It is no nay, there is no denying it. [Obs.] haucer. To refuse.
[Obs.] Holinshed. | ||||||||