Now dial. and arch. Forms: α. 1 ʓæ, ʓee, ʓe, 2–5 (6 Sc.) ȝe, 4–5 ȝhe, 4–6 ȝee, ye, 4–7 yee, 5 yhe, 6 je. β. 1 ʓea, 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 ʓiee, ʓi, 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.) ʓéa combined with the corresp. Anglian ʓé to produce the ME. type ȝe(e, ye(e; the Northumb. development of the Anglian form, ʓíe, ʓí (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 ʓéa became a rising one, ʓeá, iá, whence arose southern ȝo and northern ȝa (but cf. ON. já). In other respects the phonology of the English forms is obscure. 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 word used to express affirmation or assent: now ordinarily replaced by YES.
1. 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).
731. Bæda, Hist. Eccl., V. ii. ‘Dicito,’ inquiens, ‘aliquod verbum, dicito Gæ [OE. transl. (c. 900) cweð nu ʓee],’ quod est, lingua Anglorum, verbum adfirmandi et consentiendi, id est, etiam.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., John xxi. 15. Þa cwæð se hælend … Simon iohannis lufast ðu me swiðor þænne ðas; He cwæð to him, ʓea [Lind. & Rushw. ʓee] drihten þu wast þæt ic þe lufiʓe.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Gen. xxvii. 24. Eart þu Esau min sunu? And he cwæð: Ia leof, ic hit eom.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 47. Is hit god for to hiheren godes weordes and heom athalden? ȝe fuliwis.
c. 1200. Ormin, 4452. Maȝȝ aniȝ mann slan oþerr mann & cwellenn himm wiþþ herrte? Ȝa full wel seȝȝþ þatt Latin boc.
a. 1225. St. 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.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 52. Is hit nu so ouer vuel uor te toten utward? ȝe hit. Ibid., 408. Mei ich preouen ou þis? Ȝe ich sikerliche.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 772. ‘And wenis þou þat it be sua Sum he has said yow?’ ‘certes, ya!’
c. 1330. Florice & Bl. (1857), 598. Ȝhe ne answerede nai ne ȝo.
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 268. ‘What? sone,’ seide þe couherde ‘seidestow i was here?’ ‘Ȝa, sire, sertes,’ seide þe child.
c. 1380. Sir Ferumb., 1575. ‘Wolleþ ȝe ȝou defende ouþer ȝe wolleþ flen?’ ‘Ȝea, so god me mende.’
c. 1420. Avow. Arth., xxiv. Gauan asshes, ‘Is hit soe?’ To tother knyȝt grauntus, ȝoe.
c. 1440. Generydes, 294. His moder … Askyd medeyn if she hadde done wele And she seid yae.
a. 1450. Myrc, Par. Pr., 69. Belevest thowe fully alle the pryncipalle articles of the Feithe…? The Sike persone answerethe, Yee.
a. 1466. Gregory, 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!’
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, IV. 364. At him he speryt, all Scottis gyff thai be. Wallace said ‘ȝa.’
c. 1500. Lancelot, 2843. ‘Madem, if ȝhe remembir, so it was The red knycht … That wencust al’ … ‘Ȝha,’ quod the qwen, ‘rycht well remembir I.’
1500–20. Dunbar, Poems, xlii. 15. I said, ‘Is this your gouirnance, To tak men for thair luking heir?’ Bewty sayis, ‘Ȝa, schir.’
1526. Tindale, Matt. xiii. 51. Jesus sayde vnto them; have ye vnderstonde all these thynges: they sayde, ye syr.
a. 1553. Udall, Royster D., III. iii. (Arb.), 46. R. Royster. Trowest thou so? M. Mery. Ye plain.
1593. Shaks., Rich. II., III. ii. 2. Rich. Barkloughly Castle call you this at hand? An. Yea, my Lord.
1602. Contention betw. Liberalitie & Prodigalitie, II. iii. (Malone Soc.), 345. Van.… What, still so hastily? Ten. Yoo by gisse, sir, tis high time.
1611. W. Adams, Lett., in Rundall, Mem. Japon (Hakl. Soc.), 39. He asked whether our countrey had warres? I answered him yea, with the Spaniards and Portugals.
1796. Pegge, Derbicisms (E.D.S.), 86. Yoy, yes, from yea or ay rather than yes.
1859. Tennyson, 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.
1909. K. 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.)
a. 1000. Colloq. Ælfric, in Wr.-Wülcker, 96. M. And maniʓe fedaþ þa ʓetemodon ofer sumor þæt eft hiʓ habban ʓearuwe A. Ʒea swa hiʓ doþ.
a. 1300. Cursor 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.’
a. 1330. Otuel, 303. ‘Euele mote he þriue & þe, Þat ferst failleþ of me & te.’ ‘Ȝe leue ȝa,’ quaþ otuwel þo.
a. 1375. Joseph Arim., 170. ‘I trouwe þat beo þi sone’ bi Iosaphe he seide. ‘Ȝe, sire, so he is.’
c. 1412. Hoccleve, 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!’
1535. Coverdale, Josh. xxiv. 22. Ye are witnesses ouer youre selues, that ye haue chosen you the Lorde, to serue him. And they sayde: Yee.
1599. Shaks., 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.
1859. Tennyson, 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).
a. 1000. Colloq. Ælfric, in Wr.-Wülcker, 92. M. Ne canst þu huntian buton mid nettum? V. Ʒea butan nettum huntian ic mæʓ.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 334. Nis nout, cweð he, God so grim ase ȝe him uore makið. No, he seid, 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.
1382. Wyclif, Matt. xvii. 23. Thei … seiden to hym, Ȝoure maister payeth nat tribute? And he seith, Ȝhe [1388 Ȝhis].
1423. James I., Kingis Q., lxviii. Quhare[un]to lyve I langer? Wofullest wicht, and subiect vnto peyne; Of peyne? no: god wote, ȝa.
1876. Waugh, Chimney Corner (1879), 149. ‘This is th’ house isn’t it, Matty?’ ‘Yigh. We’re just i’ time.’
1886. Cunliffe, 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.
c. 1100. O. E. Chron. (MS. D.), an. 1067. Se kyng befealh ʓeorne hire breðer oð þæt he cwæð ia wið.
c. 1300. Beket, 36. This Gilbert seide ȝe.
1390. Gower, Conf., I. 288. And to the kniht sche seide: ‘Yee.’
c. 1400. Apol. Loll., 29. To a ferme … oiþer ȝie or nay.
c. 1440. Generydes, 3164. They praed them to say In all this mater playnly ye or nay.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, I. Prol. 93. Nocht fullie grantand, nor anis sayand ȝe.
1568. Grafton, Chron., II. 128. A folkemot was an assembly of people to say yea or nay to that which should be declared into them.
1683. Col. 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.
c. 1375. Cursor M., 772 (Fairf.). And wenis þou þat hit is squa? Certis, ho sayde I traw ya [v.rr. ȝa, ȝe].
1397. Rolls of Parlt., III. 379/1. I trowe rather ȝe than nay.
c. 1489. Caxton, Sonnes of Aymon, xxiv. 511. Alas, doo they not remembre me, I byleve better ye than nay.
c. 1500. Melusine, 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.
1515. in Leadam, Sel. Cases Star Chamber (Selden Soc.), II. 93. To the Interrogatory Whethir thei had this by the Comen assent ye or noo [etc.].
c. 1540. B. N. C. (Oxf.) Munim., 27. 112 (MS.). Whether J. S. was cosyn and heire of [A. B.], ye or naye, he knoweth not.
1577. Breton, Floorish upon Fancie, Wks. (Grosart), I. 7/1. Would I ye or no, I learnd some of his raging rules.
1670. in Extr. St. Papers rel. Friends, Ser. IV. (1913), 313. In that time I shall tell thee whether I shall make them yea or no.
1727. De 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.
c. 950. Lindisf. Gosp., Mark xiii. 22. Ad seducendos si potest fieri etiam electos, to ʓesuicanne ʓif mæʓe wosa ʓee ða ʓecoreno. Ibid., John xvi. 32. Ecce uenit hora et iam uenit, heono cuom ðio tid ʓee cuom [marg. ʓi nu cummen; Rushw. & ʓe comon].
c. 1250. Hymn, in Trin. Coll. Hom., App. 258. Iherd ȝe beo þin holi nome in heouene & in eorþe.
c. 1300. Cursor M., 13050. Þou luues hir yaa again þi liue.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), VII. 129. Þe kyng … forbeed þat any schulde selle hym woode ȝe [L. etiam] forto seþe his mete and vitailles wiþ.
1388. Wyclif, Prov. xiv. 20. A pore man schal be hateful, ȝhe [Vulg. etiam], to his neiȝbore.
c. 1460. Wisdom, 895, in Macro Plays, 64. Schulde we leve þis lyue, ya whowe, We may a-mende wen we be sage.
1581. A. 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.
a. 1240. Ureisun, in O. E. Hom., I. 185. He openeþ swa þe moder hire earmes hire leoue child for to cluppen, ȝe soþes.
1297. R. 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. of L. Poems (1903), 261. Þou þeng wel on þese þinges yie, wat tou art, & wat tou were.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xxvii. (Machor), 153. Þai … Ioy mad, ȝey, mare þan ma nemmyt be.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Wks. (1880), 10. Þei seyn þat an heþene philosofre … is wittiere and trewere þan almyȝti god, ȝe þat god is fals and a fole.
a. 1533. Ld. Berners, Huon, cxlix. 565. I had rather haue lost .iiii. of my best cityes, ye and all my countre … destroyed.
1533. Gau, Richt Vay, 38. Giff we be the barnis of God thane ar we alsua heritours, ȝei heritours of God.
1579. Lyly, Euphues (Arb.), 106. How wantonly, yea, and how willingly haue we abused our golden time.
1605. Camden, Rem., 3. As that the true Christian Religion was planted heere most auntiently by Ioseph of Arimathia,… yea by saint Peter, and saint Paul.
c. 1620. A. 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.
1671. Milton, P. R., I. 117. Regents and Potentates, and Kings, yea gods, or many a pleasant Realm.
1690. W. 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.
1786. Wesley, Jrnl., 3 May. Some of them use improper, yea, indecent, expressions in prayer.
1813. Shelley, Q. Mab, II. 130. Those Pyramids shall fall! Yea! not a stone shall stand to tell The spot whereon they stood!
1859. Tennyson, Marr. Geraint, 704. I … kept it for a sweet surprise at morn. Yea, truly is it not a sweet surprise?
4. 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.’
a. 1225. [see sense 1].
c. 1230. Hali Meid., 25. Nu þu art iwedded, & of se heh se lahe iliht…. Ȝei nu, hwat frut, & for hwuch þing meast hit is?
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. XI. 33. ‘Ȝee, recche þe neuere,’ quod recchelesnes.
c. 1420. Chron. 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.’
c. 1475. Rauf 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.’
c. 1520. Skelton, Magnyf., 942. Fan.… They fell a chydynge With Crafty Conuayaunce. Cou. Ab. Ye, dyd they so?
1535. Coverdale, 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?
1590. Shaks., Mids. N., III. ii. 411. Rob. Come, recreant…. Dem. Yea, art thou there? Ibid. (1605), Lear, I. iv. 326 (Qo.). Yea, is it come to this?
1859. Tennyson, 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.
a. 1450. Le 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 sb.
1. An utterance of the word ‘yea’; an affirmative reply or statement; an expression of assent. (Usually opposed to nay or no: see also 3.)
1228. Mem. Ripon (Surtees), I. 53. Credendi … per suum na vel suum ya.
a. 1400. Cristene-mon & Jew, 125, in Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS., 488. Oþer a nay, or A ȝa? Soone tel þou me swa.
c. 1480. Henryson, Orpheus & Eurydice 574 (Bann. MS.). Thingis … Till ȝe or na quhilk ar indefferent.
1500–20. Dunbar, Poems, xv. 36. Sum micht haif ȝe, with littill cure, That hes oft nay, with grit labour.
1534. Tindale, James v. 12. Sweare not…. Let youre ye be ye, and youre naye naye.
1578. H. Wotton, Courtlie Controv., 230. Take pitie of him which attendeth life or death of your yea or nay.
1588. Shaks., L. L. L., V. ii. 413. My woing minde shall be exprest In russet yeas, and honest kersie noes.
1611. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. I. 538. Their No should be as welcome unto him as their Yea.
1714. trans. 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.
1812. T. Jefferson, Writ. (1830), IV. 178. Their nay is the yea of truth, and its best test.
1846. Trench, 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.
1382. Wyclif, 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.
1526. Tindale, 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.
1831. Carlyle, 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.
1657. Burton’s Diary (1828), II. 53. After a short debate … the House was divided. The yeas went forth.
1706. Hearne, Collect. (O. H. S.), 203. ’Twas carried in ye Affirmative Yeas 141, Noes 71.
1781. Hatsell, 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.
1789. Massachusetts Spy, 29 Jan., 3/2. 197 Members present—Yeas 101.
1838. Congr. Globe, 24 Dec., 33/1. Mr. Tillinghast asked for the yeas and nays, which were ordered.
1888. Bryce, Amer. Commw., xiii. I. 176. If one fifth of a quorum demand a call of yeas and nays, this is taken.
3. 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).
1382. Wyclif, 2 Cor. i. 17. Is and not, or ȝhe and nay.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), VII. 297. He folwede þe kynges wille and his ȝee [v.r. ȝhe] and nay in al manere wise.
1526. Tindale, 2 Cor. i. 18. Oure preachynge vnto you, was not ye and naye.
1540. Palsgr., Acolastus, Declar. Names b 4. To flatter hym, and holde him vp with ye and nay.
1598. Shaks., Merry W., I. iv. 99. The very yea, & the no is, ye French Doctor my Master [etc.].
1720. Prior, Conversation, 34. These two went on, With yea and nay, and pro and con.
1886. Ruskin, Præterita, II. i. 27. There had been a good deal of dealers’ yea and nay about it.
1913. H. 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.
1588. Shaks., 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. Ibid. (1598), Merry W., I. i. 88. Shal. Sir, I thanke you: by year, and no I doe.
[1641. Brome, Joviall Crew, I. (1652), C 3. By yea-cock and nay-cock The Fields will afford us a Hedge or a Hay-cock.]
1661. W. N., etc., Merry Drollery, I. 2 b. He swore by yea and nay He would have no denial.
1682. Mrs. Behn, False Count, Prol. A ij b. By Yea and Nay, shee’ll throw her self on you.
1828. Craven Gloss., s.v. ‘By fair yea and nay,’ by a solemn affirmation.
a. 1839. Praed, 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; (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 sb. 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; yea-word, a word of assent.
1656. 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.
a. 1700. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crow, Yea and Nay-Men, Quakers.
1775. Mme. D’Arblay, Early Diary, Jan. (1889), II. 9. He was a yea and nay man not worth remembering.
1781. C. Johnston, Hist. J. Juniper, I. 81. One of your water-gruel, yea-and-nay good boys.
1807. Antid. Miseries Hum. Life, 4. They were Yeas and Nays. ‘What’s that?’ said I…. ‘O quack, quack I suppose,’ said the squire.
1828. L. 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.
1865. Anne Manning, Belforest, I. 200. I hate yea-and-nay persons that don’t care, and leave it to you.
1900. M. Hewlett (title), The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay.
1777. Mme. D’Arblay, Early Diary, July (1889), II. 202. Our journey proved very *yea and nayish.
1597. Shaks., 2 Hen. IV., I. ii. 45. A Rascally-*yea-forsooth-knaue, to beare a Gentleman in hand, and then stand vpon Security.
1847. Mrs. Gore, Castles in Air, iii. The executor was an infirm *yea-nay old gentleman.
1856. R. A. Vaughan, Mystics, VIII. ii. (1860), II. 279, note1. It was indeed no time for compliment—for hesitant, yea-nay utterance upon the question.
1875. Morris, 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. Ibid. (1887), Odyss., XIII. 47. So he spake; and all yea-said him and bade the thing to be.
a. 1861. Sir F. Palgrave, Norm. & Eng. (1864), III. 82. Nor did any bashfulness real or conventional, delay his *yea-word.
