different between gainsay vs denay

English

Etymology

From Middle English gainsayen, ?einseggen (“to say against, say in opposition to”), equivalent to gain- +? say. Compare Old Danish gensige (“to speak against; gainsay”), Swedish gensaga (“a speaking against; protest”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?e?n?se?/
• (US, also) IPA^(key): /??e?n?se?/
• Rhymes: -e?

Verb

gainsay (third-person singular simple present gainsays, present participle gainsaying, simple past and past participle gainsaid)

1. (transitive, formal) To say something in contradiction to.

   Synonyms: controvert, deny, dispute, refute, withsay

Derived terms

• gainsayer
• gainsaying

Translations

Anagrams

• angiyas, gaysian

English

Noun

denay (plural denays)

1. (obsolete) denial; refusal
   • c.1600, William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night

     Duke Orsino: My love can give no place, bide no denay.

   • c. 1542, Thomas Wyatt, Forget Not Yet

     Forget not yet the great assays,
     The cruel wrong, the scornful ways,
     The painful patience in denays […]

Verb

denay (third-person singular simple present denays, present participle denaying, simple past and past participle denayed)

1. (obsolete, transitive) To deny, refuse.
   • 1600, Edward Fairfax, The Jerusalem Delivered of Tasso, XII, xxvii:

     Preserve this babe, whose mother must denay / To nourish it, preserve this harmless child.

Anagrams

• Adney, Ayden, Dayne, dynae, nayed