different between nay vs fay

English

Etymology

From Middle English nai, nei, from Old Norse nei (“no”), contraction of ne (“not”) + ei (“ever”), itself from Proto-Germanic *nai (“never”), *n? (“not”). More at no.

Pronunciation

• enPR: n?, IPA^(key): /ne?/
• Homophones: nee, neigh, Neagh
• Rhymes: -e?

Adverb

nay (not comparable)

1. (now chiefly archaic or regional) No. [from 12th c.]
2. (now chiefly archaic or regional) Introducing a statement, without direct negation. [from 14th c.]
   • 1876, Henry James, Roderick Hudson:

     Nay, what are you smiling at so damnably?

3. (now archaic or humorous) Or rather, or should I say; moreover (introducing a stronger and more appropriate expression than the preceding one). [from 16th c.]

Translations

Usage notes

In Early Modern English, nay was used to respond to a positive question, while no was used to respond to a negative question. Over time, this distinction disappeared.

Interjection

nay

1. (archaic) No.

Derived terms

• nay-say
• naysayer

Noun

nay (plural nays)

1. A vote against.

   Antonyms: aye, yea

2. A person who voted against.

3. (archaic) A denial; a refusal. [1]

Verb

nay (third-person singular simple present nays, present participle naying, simple past and past participle nayed)

1. (obsolete) To refuse.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Holinshed to this entry?)

Adjective

nay (not comparable)

1. (obsolete) Nary. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Anagrams

• AYN, Ayn, NYA, Yan, any, any%, ayn, yan

Ainu

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /naj/

Noun

nay

1. swamp.
2. small river.

Trivia

The ainu word -nay is frequently seen in names of places in Hokkaido and Northeast Japan, such as Wakkanai, Shizunai, etc.

Tagalog

Noun

nay

1. abbreviation of nanay, the informal form of ina

Vietnamese

Etymology

Cognate with này.

Pronunciation

• (Hà N?i) IPA^(key): [naj??]
• (Hu?) IPA^(key): [naj??]
• (H? Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [na(?)j??]

Adjective

nay • (????, ????, ????)

1. now, nowadays

Derived terms

Related terms

• này (“this”)

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: f?, IPA^(key): /fe?/
• Homophone: fey
• Rhymes: -e?

Etymology 1

From Middle English feyen, feien, from Old English f??an (“to join, unite”), from Proto-Germanic *f?gijan? (“to join”), from *f?g? (“joint, slot”), from Proto-Indo-European *pa?- (“to fasten, place”). Akin to Old Frisian f?gia (“to join”), Old Saxon f?gian (“to join”), Middle Low German fögen (“to join, add”), Dutch voegen (“to add, place”), Old High German fuogen (“to connect”) (German fügen (“to connect”)), Old English f?n (“to catch”). More at fang.

Verb

fay (third-person singular simple present fays, present participle faying, simple past and past participle fayed)

1. To fit.
2. To join or unite closely or tightly.
   • Model Shipbuilders, 2010:

     I have a strip cutter and I can cut the exact widths I need to fit, they are easy to fay together and attach very firmly to the bulkheads.

3. To lie close together.
4. To fadge.

Synonyms

• (to join or unite closely): affix, attach, put together; see also Thesaurus:join

Derived terms

• faying surface

Translations

Adjective

fay (comparative more fay, superlative most fay)

1. Fitted closely together.
   • US Patent Application 20070033853, 2006:

     Under the four outer corners of the horizontal frame platform 22 are four tubular leg sleeves 23 that are fay together one at each outer corner.

Etymology 2

From Middle English fegien, fæien (“to cleanse”), from Old Norse fægja (“to cleanse, polish”), from Proto-Germanic *f?gijan? (“to decorate, make beautiful”), from Proto-Indo-European *p??-, *p??- (“to clean, adorn”). Cognate with Swedish feja (“to sweep”), Danish feje (“to sweep”), German fegen (“to cleanse, scour, sweep”), Dutch vegen (“to sweep, strike”). More at feague, fake, fair.

Verb

fay (third-person singular simple present fays, present participle faying, simple past and past participle fayed)

1. (dialectal) To cleanse; clean out.

Translations

Etymology 3

Middle English faie, fei (“a place or person possessed with magical properties”), from Middle French feie, fee (“fairy", "fae”). More at fairy.

Noun

fay (plural fays)

1. A fairy.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.ii:

     that mighty Princesse did complaine / Of grieuous mischiefes, which a wicked Fay / Had wrought [...].

Synonyms

• See fairy

Translations

Adjective

fay (comparative more fay, superlative most fay)

1. Fairy like.

See also

• fey
• fae

Etymology 4

Abbreviation of ofay.

Noun

fay (plural fays)

1. (US slang) A white person.

Translations

Adjective

fay (comparative more fay, superlative most fay)

1. (US slang) White; white-skinned.
   • 1946, Mezz Mezzrow and Bernard Wolfe, Really the Blues, Payback Press 1999, p. 62:

     I really went for Ray's press roll on the drums; he was the first fay boy I ever heard who mastered this vital foundation of jazz music.

Translations

Anagrams

• FYA, YAF

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English f?g.

Noun

fay

1. Alternative form of fou

Etymology 2

From Old English f??e.

Adjective

fay

1. Alternative form of fey (“marked for death”)