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Webster 1913 Edition

Yea

Yea

(yā or yē; 277)
,
adv.
[OE.
ye
,
ya
,
ȝe
,
ȝa
, AS.
geá
; akin to OFries.
gē
,
iē
, OS., D., OHG., G., Dan. & Sw.
ja
, Icel,
jā
, Goth.
ja
,
jai
, and probably to Gr.
ἧ
truly, verily. √188. Cf.
Yes
.]
1.
Yes; ay; a word expressing assent, or an affirmative, or an affirmative answer to a question, now superseded by yes. See
Yes
.
Let your communication be
yea
,
yea
; nay, nay.
Matt. v. 37.
2.
More than this; not only so, but; – used to mark the addition of a more specific or more emphatic clause. Cf.
Nay
,
adv.
, 2.
I therein do rejoice,
yea
, and will rejoice.
Phil. i. 18.
☞ Yea sometimes introduces a clause, with the sense of indeed, verily, truly. “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”
Gen. iii. 1.

Yea

,
Noun.
An affirmative vote; one who votes in the affirmative;
as, a vote by
yeas
and nays
.
☞ In the Scriptures, yea is used as a sign of certainty or stability. “All the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen.”
2 Cor. i. 20.

Webster 1828 Edition

Yea

YEA

,
adv.
Ya.
1.
Yes; a word that expresses affirmation or assent. Will you go? Yea. It sometimes introduces a subject, with the sense of indeed, verily, truly, it is so.
Yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden? Genesis 3.
Let your communication be yea, yea; nay, nay. Matthew 5.
2.
It sometimes enforces the sense of something preceding; not only so, but more.
Therein I do rejoice; yea, and will rejoice. Philippians 1.
3.
In Scripture, it is used to denote certainty, consistency, harmony, and stability.
All the promises of God in him are yea, and in him are amen. 2 Corinthians 1.
[In this use, the word may be considered a noun.]
Yea is used only in the sacred and solemn style. [See Yes.]

Definition 2024

yea

yea

English

Adverb

yea ‎(not comparable)

  1. (dated) Yes.
    • Bishop Joseph Hall
      Yea, have not too many amongst us added to their unreformation an impudence in sinning?
  2. Thus, so (now often accompanied by a hand gesture).
    The pony was yea high.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Conjunction

yea

  1. (archaic) Or even, or more like, nay. Introduces a stronger and more appropriate expression than the preceding one.
    • c. 1633, The Flea, by John Donne
      O stay, three lives in one flea spare,
      Where we almost, yea, more than married are.

Interjection

yea

  1. (in some dialects of American English, including Southern, Western, and African American Vernacular) Yeah, right, yes.
  2. Misspelling of yay.
  3. (proscribed) Alternative spelling of yeah.

Noun

yea ‎(plural yeas)

  1. An affirmative vote, usually but not always spoken
    • 2009, January 6, Still Broken After All These Years:
      Recently senators could fax in their yeas or nays to the committee chairman.

Antonyms

  • (An affirmative vote): nay

Anagrams

Etymology

From Middle English ye, ȝea, from Old English ġēa, iā ‎(“yea, yes”), from Proto-Germanic *ja ‎(“yes, thus, so”), from Proto-Indo-European *yē ‎(“already”). Cognate with Scots yea, ya ‎(“yes, yea, indeed, so”), Saterland Frisian ja, jee ‎(“yes”), West Frisian ja ‎(“yes”), Dutch ja ‎(“yes”), German ja ‎(“yes, yea”), Swedish ja, jo ‎(“yes, well, indeed”), Icelandic já ‎(“yes”), Latin iam ‎(“now, already”), Italian già ‎(“now, already”), Spanish ya ‎(“now, already”).

Pronunciation

  • enPR: yā, IPA(key): /jeɪ/
  • Rhymes: -eɪ
  • Homophone: yay

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