Emily Dickinson Lexicon

NAY, adv. [a contracted word; L. nego; Sw. ney or nej, from neka, to deny; W. nac, from naca, to deny.]

1. No; a word that expresses negation. I tell you nay, but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Luke xiii.
2. It expresses also refusal. He that will not when he may, / When he would he shall have nay. Proverb. [In those senses it is now rarely used; no being substituted.]
3. Not only so; not this alone; intimating that something is to be added by way of amplification. He requested a answer; nay, he urged it.