| 释义 |
▪ I. yea, adv. (n.) Now dial. and arch.|jeɪ|
Forms: α. 1 ᵹæ, ᵹee, ᵹe, 2–5 (6 Sc.) ȝe, 4–5 ȝhe, 4–6 ȝee, ye, 4–7 yee, 5 yhe, 6 je. β. 1 ᵹea, 1–2 ia, 3–5 ȝea, (also 6 Sc.) ȝa, 4 yaa, iaa, ȝia, ȝai, 4–5 ȝaa, ȝha, ya, yai, 5 yha, yae, 5– yea; 4 ȝo, ioo, ȝoo, 5 yoe, 5–7 yoo. γ. 3 ȝei, yai, 4–5 ȝey, 5 yei, ȝeyȝe. δ. 1 ᵹiee, ᵹi, 4 yie, 5 (6 Sc.) ȝie, 8 dial. yoy, 9 dial. yi, yigh. ε. 3 ȝeoi, ȝui, 5 ȝoye.
[An affirmative particle having forms corresponding more or less exactly in all the other Teutonic languages: OFris. gê, jê, OS. jâ, (M)LG. ja, (M)Du., OHG., MHG. ja, jâ, (G. ja), ON. já, Goth. ja, jai, all derivable ultimately from a primitive Teut. *ja, je, which has undergone modification in different directions as the result of sentence stress or emotional emphasis.
OE. (WS.) ᵹéa combined with the corresp. Anglian ᵹé to produce the ME. type ȝe(e, ye(e; the Northumb. development of the Anglian form, ᵹíe, ᵹí (cf. Northumb. *scíep, scíp = WS. scéap sheep), gave a ME. type ȝie, continued in mod. north. dial. in yi, yigh, yoi. In later WS. the falling diphthong of ᵹéa became a rising one, ᵹeá, iá, whence arose southern ȝo and northern ȝa (but cf. ON. já). In other respects the phonology of the English forms is obscure. The modern standard spelling yea and pronunciation |jeɪ| show arrested development of the vowel, but the pronunciation |jiː| is current locally. ME. ȝei, ȝey, ȝeyȝe seem to point back to a doubled form *ȝēȝe. The ε-forms ȝui, ȝoi constitute a distinct southern type, with possibly a modern representative in Hampshire yigh.]
A. adv. A word used to express affirmation or assent: now ordinarily replaced by yes.
1. a. As simple affirmative, in answer to a question not involving a negative: = yes 1.
For the distinction formerly observed between yea and yes, see nay adv.1 1 and yes 2.
In ME. ȝe is sometimes accompanied by a pronoun repeating the pronominal subj. of the question (see quots. from Ancren Riwle, a 1225, and cf. the first quot. from the same text in 1 c).
731Bæda Hist. Eccl. v. ii, ‘Dicito,’ inquiens, ‘aliquod verbum, dicito Gæ [OE. transl. (c 900) cweð nu ᵹee],’ quod est, lingua Anglorum, verbum adfirmandi et consentiendi, id est, etiam. c1000Ags. Gosp. John xxi. 15 Þa cwæð se hælend..Simon iohannis lufast ðu me swiðor þænne ðas; He cwæð to him, ᵹea [Lind. & Rushw. ᵹee] drihten þu wast þæt ic þe lufiᵹe. c1000ælfric Gen. xxvii. 24 Eart þu Esau min sunu? And he cwæð: Ia leof, ic hit eom. c1175Lamb. Hom. 47 Is hit god for to hiheren godes weordes and heom athalden? ȝe fuliwis. c1200Ormin 4452 Maȝȝ aniȝ mann slan oþerr mann & cwellenn himm wiþþ herrte? Ȝa full wel seȝȝþ þatt Latin boc. a1225St. Marher. 4 Hwet godd heiestu ant hersumest? Ich heie qð ha godd feder... Ȝe [see sense 4] qð he lude, leuestu ant luuest him þe reowðfulliche deide..on rode? Yai quoð heo. a1225Ancr. R. 52 Is hit nu so ouer vuel uor te toten utward? ȝe hit. Ibid. 408 Mei ich preouen ou þis? Ȝe ich sikerliche. a1300Cursor M. 772 ‘And wenis þou þat it be sua Sum he has said yow?’ ‘certes, ya!’ c1330Florice & Bl. (1857) 598 Ȝhe ne answerede nai ne ȝo. c1350Will. Palerne 268 ‘What? sone’, seide þe couherde ‘seidestow i was here?’ ‘Ȝa, sire, sertes’, seid þe child. c1380Sir Ferumb. 1575 ‘Wolleþ ȝe ȝou defende ouþer ȝe wolleþ flen?’ ‘Ȝea, so god me mende.’ c1420Avow. Arth. xxiv, Gauan asshes, ‘Is hit soe?’ To tother knyȝt grauntus, ȝoe. c1440Generydes 294 His moder..Askyd medeyn if she hadde done wele And she seid yae. a1450Myrc Par. Pr. 69 Belevest thowe fully alle the pryncipalle articles of the Feithe..? The Sike persone answerethe, Yee. a1466Gregory Chron. in Hist. Coll. Cit. Lond. (Camden) 165 ‘Yf ye holde you welle plesyd..say you nowe, ye!’..And thenne alle the pepylle cryde with oo voyce, ‘Ye! ye!’ c1470Henry Wallace iv. 364 At him he speryt, all Scottis gyff thai be. Wallace said ‘ȝa’. c1500Lancelot 2843 ‘Madem, if ȝhe remembir, so it was The red knycht..That wencust al’... ‘Ȝha,’ quod the qwen, ‘rycht well remembir I’. 1500–20Dunbar Poems xlii. 15, I said, ‘Is this ȝour gouirnance, To tak men for thair luking heir?’ Bewty sayis, ‘Ȝa, schir’. 1526Tindale Matt. xiii. 51 Jesus sayde vnto them; have ye vnderstonde all these thynges: they sayde, ye syr. a1553Udall Royster D. iii. iii. (Arb.) 46 R. Royster. Trowest thou so? M. Mery. Ye plain. 1593Shakes. Rich. II, iii. ii. 2 Rich. Barkloughly Castle call you this at hand? Au. Yea, my Lord. 1602Contention betw. Liberalitie & Prodigalitie ii. iii. (Malone Soc.) 345 Van... What, still so hastily? Ten. Yoo by gisse, sir, tis high time. 1611W. Adams Let. in Rundall Mem. Japon (Hakl. Soc.) 39 He asked whether our countrey had warres? I answered him yea. 1796Pegge Derbicisms (E.D.S.) 86 Yoy, yes, from yea or ay rather than yes. 1859Tennyson Marr. Geraint 688 ‘Look on it, child, and tell me if ye know it.’ And Enid..answer'd, ‘Yea, I know it’. 1865‘Artemus Ward’ His Bk., Shakers, When we broke up, sez I, ‘my pretty dears, ear I go you hav no objections, hav you, to a innersent kiss at partin?’ ‘Yay,’ thay sed. 1909K. D. Wiggin Susanna & Sue i. 13 [Shaker Eldress loq.] ‘Yee, yee! I remember well!’ [footnote Yea is always thus pronounced among the Shakers.]
b. Expressing assent to a statement, command, etc.: = yes 3. (See also 4.)
a1000Colloq. ælfric in Wr.-Wülcker 96 M. And maniᵹe fedaþ þa ᵹetemodon ofer sumor þæt eft hiᵹ habban ᵹearuwe. A. Ᵹea swa hiᵹ doþ. a1300Cursor M. 1246 ‘Sun,’ he said, ‘þou most now ga To paradis þat i com fra.’..‘Yai, sir, wist i wyderward Þat tat vncuth contre ware.’ a1330Otuel 303 ‘Euele mote he þriue & þe, Þat ferst failleþ of me & te.’ ‘Ȝe leue ȝa,’ quaþ otuwel þo. a1375Joseph Arim. 170, ‘I trouwe þat beo þi sone’ bi Iosaphe he seide. ‘Ȝe, sire, so he is. c1412Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 2979 ‘Ye shul vnto me swere Þe lawes kepe til I agayn come,’..to which þei gan answere, ‘Ȝee, ȝee, man, ȝee!’ 1535Coverdale Josh. xxiv. 22 Ye are witnesses ouer youre selues, that ye haue chosen you the Lorde, to serue him. And they sayde: Yee. 1599Shakes. Much Ado ii. ii. 3 Ioh. It is so, the Count Claudio shal marry the daughter of Leonato. Bora. Yea my Lord, but I can crosse it. 1859Tennyson Geraint & Enid 757 ‘Then, Enid, shall you ride Behind me.’ ‘Yea,’ said Enid, ‘let us go.’
c. Rarely in answer to a negative question (obs.: = yes 2 a), or in contradiction of a negative statement (now dial.: = yes 2 b).
a1000Colloq. ælfric in Wr.-Wülcker 92 M. Ne canst þu huntian buton mid nettum? V. Ᵹea butan nettum huntian ic mæᵹ. a1225Ancr. R. 334 Nis nout, cweð he, God so grim ase ȝe him uore makieð. No, he seið, Dauid, ȝuihe [MS. T. ȝeoi he, MS. C. ȝeihe], and seið þenne hwareuore. Ibid. 392 Ne muhte he mid lesse gref habben ared us? Ȝe siker [v.rr. ȝuse I wis, ȝes I wis], ful lihtliche. 1382Wyclif Matt. xvii. 23 Thei..seiden to hym, Ȝoure maister payeth nat tribute? And he seith, Ȝhe [1388 Ȝhis]. 1423Jas. I Kingis Q. lxviii, Quhare[un]to lyve I langer? Wofullest wicht, and subiect vnto peyne; Of peyne? no: god wote, ȝa. 1876Waugh Chimney Corner (1879) 149 ‘This is th' house isn't it, Matty?’ ‘Yigh. We're just i' time.’ 1886Cunliffe Gloss. Rochdale-w.-Rossendale Wds. & Phr., Yi..is..a negative [answer] to a statement, as, ‘You have not been at home to-day,’ to which ‘yi’ means that the statement made is untrue.
d. to say yea: to answer in the affirmative; hence, to give assent.
c1100O.E. Chron. (MS. D.) an. 1067 Se kyng befealh ᵹeorne hire breðer oð þæt he cwæð ia wið. c1300Beket 36 This Gilbert seide ȝe. 1390Gower Conf. I. 288 And to the kniht sche seide: ‘Yee.’ c1400Apol. Loll. 29 To a ferme..oiþer ȝie or nay. c1440Generydes 3164 They praed them to say In all this mater playnly ye or nay. 1513Douglas æneis i. Prol. 93 Nocht fullie grantand, nor anis sayand ȝe. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 128 A folkemot was an assembly of people to say yea or nay to that which should be declared vnto them. 1683Col. Rec. Pennsylv. I. 72 All yee that are willing yt the last proposition should stand so as it is, see yee.
†e. Standing for an affirmative dependent clause after a verb of saying or believing: = yes 5. Obs.
c1375Cursor M. 772 (Fairf.) And wenis þou þat hit is squa? Certis, ho sayde I traw ya [v.rr. ȝa, ȝe]. 1397Rolls of Parlt. III. 379/1, I trowe rather ȝe than nay. c1489Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xxiv. 511 Alas, doo they not remembre me, I byleve better ye than nay. c1500Melusine 263 Yf they swere ye they are your enemyes and to the contrary, yf they swere that noo.
† f. yea or no, after whether, in an alternative dependent question = ‘whether..or not’. So in an alternative dependent clause, as would I yea or no = ‘whether I would or not’. Obs.
1515in Leadam Sel. Cases Star Chamber (Selden Soc.) II. 93 To the Interrogatory Whethir thei had this by the Comen assent ye or noo [etc.]. c1540B.N.C. (Oxf.) Munim. 27. 112 (MS.) Whether J. S. was cosyn and heire of [A. B.], ye or naye, he knoweth not. 1577Breton Floorish upon Fancie Wks. (Grosart) I. 7/1 Would I ye or no, I learnd some of his raging rules. 1670in Extr. St. Papers rel. Friends Ser. iv. (1913) 313 In that time I shall tell thee whether I shall make them yea or no. 1727De Foe Hist. Appar. iv. (1840) 30 Whether they really do converse familiarly with us, yea or no?
†2. Used as an ordinary adverb directly qualifying a clause or word: Even; truly, verily. Obs.
In the Lindisfarne and Rushworth glosses on the Gospels it freq. renders L. etiam, jam = sóðlíce, witodlíce.
c950Lindisf. Gosp. Mark xiii. 22 Ad seducendos si potest fieri etiam electos, to ᵹesuicanne ᵹif mæᵹe wosa ᵹee ða ᵹecoreno. Ibid. John xvi. 32 Ecce uenit hora et iam uenit, heono cuom ðio tid ᵹee cuom [marg. ᵹi nu cummen; Rushw. & ᵹe comon]. c1250Hymn in Trin. Coll. Hom. App. 258 Iherd ȝe beo þin holi nome in heouene & in eorþe. a1300Cursor M. 13050 Þou luues hir yaa again þi liue. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 129 Þe kyng..forbeed þat any schulde selle hym woode ȝe [L. etiam] forto seþe his mete and vitailles wiþ. 1388Wyclif Prov. xiv. 20 A pore man schal be hateful, ȝhe [Vulg. etiam], to his neiȝbore. c1460Wisdom 895 in Macro Plays 64 Schulde we leve þis lyue, ya whowe, We may a-mende wen we be sage. 1581A. Hall Iliad iii. 58 Helene..did him earnestly behold, and swelling yea with wrath [etc.].
3. Used to introduce a statement, phrase, or word, stronger or more emphatic than that immediately preceding: = ‘indeed’; ‘and more’: = yes 4.
Often practically coinciding with nay adv.1 5, which however properly expresses the contrast in degree between the statements, etc., whereas yea expresses their identity in substance.
a1240Ureisun in O.E. Hom. I. 185 He openeþ swa þe moder hire earmes hire leoue child for to cluppen, ȝe soþes. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 4797 Seint patric was þere monek & suþþe abbot þer Ȝe ar seint austin come mo þen an hundred ȝer. 13..Cursor M. 19752 (Edin.) He fande a man unfere In parlesie gia aȝte ȝier. 13..in Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1903) 261 Þou þeng wel on þese þinges yie, wat tou art, & wat tou were. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxvii. (Machor) 153 Þai..Ioy mad, ȝey, mare þan ma nemmyt be. c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 10 Þei seyn þat an heþene philosofre..is wittiere and trewere þan almyȝti god, ȝe þat god is fals and a fole. a1533Ld. Berners Huon cxlix. 565, I had rather haue lost .iiii. of my best cityes, ye and all my countre..destroyed. 1533Gau Richt Vay 38 Giff we be the barnis of God thane ar we alsua heritours, ȝei heritours of God. 1579Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 106 How wantonly, yea, and how willingly haue we abused our golden time. 1605Camden Rem. 3 As that the true Christian Religion was planted heere most auntiently by Ioseph of Arimathia,..yea by saint Peter, and saint Paul. c1620A. Hume Brit. Tongue (1865) 14 We see, not onelie in our idiom, but in the latin alsoe, one symbol to have sundrie soundes, ye, and that in one word; as lego, legis. 1671Milton P.R. i. 117 Regents and Potentates, and Kings, yea gods, Of many a pleasant Realm. 1690W. Walker Idiomat. Anglo-Lat. Pref. 3, I did not always particularly quote the place of my author..; yea sometimes I did not so much as set down my author at all. 1786Wesley Jrnl. 3 May, Some of them use improper, yea, indecent, expressions in prayer. 1813Shelley Q. Mab ii. 130 Those Pyramids shall fall! Yea! not a stone shall stand to tell The spot whereon they stood! 1859Tennyson Marr. Geraint 704, I..kept it for a sweet surprise at morn. Yea, truly is it not a sweet surprise?
4. a. Introducing a question or remark in reply to a statement, etc., expressing either vague assent or (more commonly) opposition or objection: = ‘Indeed?’; ‘Well’, ‘well then’.
a1225[see sense 1]. c1230Hali Meid. 25 Nu þu art iwedded, & of se heh se lahe iliht... Ȝei nu, hwat frut, & for hwuch þing meast hit is? 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xi. 33 ‘Ȝee, recche þe neuere,’ quod recchelesnes. c1420Chron. Vilod. 3357 ‘Þis childe rose vp, and alyue he ys’... ‘Ȝe’, quod þe kyng, ‘he nasnot dede þo, y-wys.’ ‘Ȝeysse, for god’, quod þe knyȝt, ‘dede he was & his body golde.’ ‘Ȝoye, sire’, quod þe archebisshop.., ‘Mony grette meracle þis mayden has do.’ ‘Ȝe, syre archebysshop, holde þou þy clappe! For y ȝeue no by-leue þerto.’ c1475Rauf Coilȝear 376 ‘Hald ȝow fra the Court, for ocht that may be; Ȝone man that thow outrayd Is not sa simpill as he said..’ ‘Ȝea, Dame, haue nane dreid of my lyfe to day.’ c1520Skelton Magnyf. 942 Fan... They fell a chydynge With Crafty Conuayaunce. Con. Ab. Ye, dyd they so? 1535Coverdale Gen. iii. 1 The serpent..sayde vnto the woman: Yee, hath God sayde in dede: Ye shall not eate of all maner trees in the garden? 1590Shakes. Mids. N. iii. ii. 411 Rob. Come, recreant... Dem. Yea, art thou there? 1605― Lear i. iv. 326 (Qo.) Yea, is it come to this? 1859Tennyson Geraint & Enid 128 ‘Yonder comes a knight.’..‘Yea, but one? Wait here, and when he passes fall upon him.’
†b. As a mere introductory interjection, emphasizing the statement following. Obs.
a1450Le Morte Arth. 1626 Kynge Arthur than loude spake A-monge hys knyghtis to the quene: ‘Ȝa, yonder is launcelot du lake, Yiff I hym euyr with syght haue sene.’
B. as n.
1. a. An utterance of the word ‘yea’; an affirmative reply or statement; an expression of assent. (Usually opposed to nay or no: see also 3.)
1228Mem. Ripon (Surtees) I. 53 Credendi..per suum na vel suum ya. a1400Cristene-mon & Jew 125 in Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. 488 Oþer a nay, or A ȝa? Soone tel þou me swa. c1480Henryson Orpheus & Eurydice 574 (Bann. MS.) Thingis..Till ȝe or na quhilk ar indefferent. 1500–20Dunbar Poems xv. 36 Sum micht haif ȝe, with littill cure, That hes oft nay, with grit labour. 1534Tindale James v. 12 Sweare not... Let youre ye be ye, and youre naye naye. 1578H. Wotton Courtlie Controv. 230 Take pitie of him which attendeth life or death of your yea or nay. 1588Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 413 My woing minde shall be exprest In russet yeas, and honest kersie noes. 1611in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. i. 538 Their No should be as welcome unto him as their Yea. 1714tr. Joutel's Jrnl. Voy. Mexico (1719) 34 We observ'd that their Yea consisted in a Cry, fetch'd from the Bottom of the Throat. 1812Jefferson Writ. (1830) IV. 178 Their nay is the yea of truth, and its best test. 1846Trench Mirac. xxxiii. (1862) 473 Not seldom He gives even in the very act of seeming to deny; his Nay proving indeed a veiled Yea.
b. More vaguely: Affirmation, assurance, certainty, absolute truth; a positive statement or principle.
1382Wyclif 2 Cor. i. 18 For oure word the which was at ȝou, ther is not in it is [v.rr. ȝea, ȝhe] and nay [Vulg. est et non], but in it is is, that is, treuthe. 1526Tindale 2 Cor. i. 19–20 Goddis sonne Jesus Christ..was not ye and naye: but in hym it was ye. For all the promises of God, in hym are ye [1881 R.V. in him is yea. For how many soever be the promises of God, in him is the yea]: and are in hym Amen. 1831Carlyle Sart. Res. ii. ix, Love God. This is the Everlasting Yea, wherein all contradiction is solved.
2. An affirmative vote; a person who votes in the affirmative: usually pl., opposed to nays (or noes).
Still in use in the U.S. Congress. Cf. aye.
1657Burton's Diary (1828) II. 58 After a short debate..the House was divided. The yeas went forth. 1706Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) 203 'Twas carried in y⊇ Affirmative Yeas 141, Noes 71. 1781Hatsell Prec. Proc. Ho. Comm. (1796) II. 106 note, If this question for adjournment takes place before four o'clock in the afternoon, and there is a division upon it, the Yeas go forth; if after four o'clock, the Noes. 1789Massachusetts Spy 29 Jan. 3/2, 197 Members present—Yeas 101. 1838Congr. Globe 24 Dec. 33/1 Mr. Tillinghast asked for the yeas and nays, which were ordered. 1888Bryce Amer. Commw. xiii. I. 176 If one fifth of a quorum demand a call of yeas and nays, this is taken.
3. a. yea and nay (or no): positive and negative statement (or command); affirmation and denial (or injunction and prohibition); sometimes, alternate affirmation and denial, vacillating statement, shilly-shallying. Also attrib. (see C. below).
1382Wyclif 2 Cor. i. 17 Is and not, or ȝhe and nay. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 297 He folwede þe kynges wille and his ȝee [v.r. ȝhe] and nay in al manere wise. 1526Tindale 2 Cor. i. 18 Oure preachynge vnto you, was not ye and naye. 1540Palsgr. Acolastus Declar. Names b 4, To flatter hym, and holde him vp with ye and nay. 1598Shakes. Merry W. i. iv. 99 The very yea, & the no is, y⊇ French Doctor my Master [etc.]. 1720Prior Conversation 34 These two went on, With yea and nay, and pro and con. 1886Ruskin Præterita II. i. 27 There had been a good deal of dealers' yea and nay about it. 1913H. Brown Our Renaissance ii. (1918) 56 Beyond yea or nay he inspired the greatest of all philosophers.
b. by yea and nay (or no): a formula of asseveration in the form of, and substituted for, an oath (cf. Matt. v. 34–37). ? Obs.
1588Shakes. L.L.L. i. i. 54 Longa. You swore to that Berowne, and to the rest. Berow. By yea and nay sir, than I swore in iest. 1598― Merry W. i. i. 88. [ 1641Brome Joviall Crew i. (1652) C 3, By yea-cock and naycock The Fields will afford us a Hedge or a Hay-cock.] 1661W. N. etc. Merry Drollery i. 2 b, He swore by yea and nay He would have no denial. 1682A. Behn False Count Prol. A ij b, By Yea and Nay, shee'll throw her self on you. 1828Craven Gloss. s.v., ‘By fair yea and nay,’ by a solemn affirmation. a1839Praed Charades & Enigmas xvii, But still the Lady shook her head, And swore by yea and nay.
C. Comb. yea-and-nay a. [attrib. use of phrase: see B. 3], (a) whose ‘communication’ is ‘yea, yea, nay, nay’; spec. † yea-and-nay man, a quaker; Richard Yea-and-Nay, a nickname for King Richard I; (b) of indefinite or indeterminate character, ‘neither one thing nor another’, ambiguous; (c) disposed to assent or deny indifferently or according to expediency; hesitating, vacillating, undecided; also n. a Quaker; hence yea-and-nayish adj. (nonce-wd.) in sense (b); yea-forsooth a., addicted to saying ‘yea forsooth’ in the way of superficial assent; yea-nay a. = yea-and-nay; yea-say v. [after nay-say v.], intr. to say ‘yea’, to assent; trans. to assent to; hence yea-saying vbl. n. and ppl. a.; yea-sayer, one who says ‘yea’ or who agrees; a person inclined by nature to assent, or to act in a positive manner; yea-word, a word of assent.
1656R. Flecknoe Diarium 35 Above all of your *yea and nay Man, take especial heed I pray. 1678(title) A Yea and Nay Almanack for the people call'd Quakers. a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Yea and Nay-Men, Quakers. 1775F. Burney Early Diary Jan. (1889) II. 9 He was a yea and nay man not worth remembering. 1781C. Johnston Hist. J. Juniper I. 81 One of your water-gruel, yea-and-nay good boys. 1807Antid. Miseries Hum. Life 4 They were Yeas and Nays. ‘What's that?’ said I... ‘O quack, quack I suppose’, said the squire. 1828L. Hunt Ld. Byron etc. I. 309 Shelley..had only to become a yea and nay man in the House of Commons, to be one of the richest men in Sussex. 1865A. Manning Belforest I. 200, I hate yea-and-nay persons that don't care, and leave it to you. 1900M. Hewlett (title) The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay. 1911Fletcher & Kipling School Hist. Eng. 70 ‘Richard Yea and Nay’, so called because he spoke the truth. 1957A. Duggan Devil's Brood xii. 165 Because he [sc. Bertrand de Born] could not persuade Richard to make war at his bidding he gave him the opprobrious nickname Yea-and-Nay.
1777F. Burney Early Diary July (1889) II. 202 Our journey proved very *yea and nayish.
1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, i. ii. 41 A Rascally-*yea-forsooth-knaue, to beare a Gentleman in hand, and then stand vpon Security.
1847Mrs. Gore Castles in Air iii, The executor was an infirm *yea-nay old gentleman. 1856R. A. Vaughan Mystics viii. ii. (1860) II. 279 note1, It was indeed no time for compliment—for hesitant, yea-nay utterance upon the question.
1875Morris æneids vii. 615 Whom all men follow straight, The while their brazen *yea-saying the griding trumpets blare. Ibid. xii. 841 And yea-saying she bowed. 1887― Odyss. xiii. 47 So he spake; and all yea-said him and bade the thing to be.
1934Webster, Yea-sayer. 1940‘G. Orwell’ Inside Whale 176 There are the ‘progressives’, the yea-sayers, the Shaw-Wells type, always leaping forward to embrace the ego-projections which they mistake for the future. 1972A. Friedman in Cox & Dyson 20th-Cent. Mind I. xii. 434 The Wilcoxes..are businessmen, robust, conservative, organized, practical yea⁓sayers who lead lives of ‘telegrams and anger’.
1960Partisan Rev. Fall 609 In literary criticism..artless enthusiasm..has modulated into..more restrained yea⁓saying. 1960Times 14 Oct. 18/3 Matthew Smith's art, so much..in tune with the traditional, yea-saying materialism of French painting. 1972Jrnl. Social Psychol. LXXXVI. 220 Subjects who obtained scores of 0, 1, and 11, 12 were dropped from the analysis as representing extremes of yeasaying or naysaying.
a1861Sir F. Palgrave Norm. & Eng. (1864) III. 82 Nor did any bashfulness real or conventional, delay his *yea-word.
▪ II. yea, v.
[f. prec.]
intr. (or with it): To say ‘yea’; to reply affirmatively: opp. to nay v. 2 b.
1598Bp. Hall Sat. vi. i. 82 No more smell-feast Vitellio..loues him in his maw, loaths in his heart, Yet soothes, and yeas, and Nayes on eyther part. 1657J. Goodwin Triers Tried 6 Such as will swallow their camels, and yea it, and nay it, with them from the one end of their faith unto the other. 1679Establ. Test 23 A..Jesuit..can thou and thee, and yea and nay, as well as the best of them [sc. Quakers]. |