Link Centre Dictionary

yea

UK/jeɪ/ US/ˈjæ(ə)/ fairly common us

noun

1.

an affirmative

  • “The yeas have it”
Antonyms

adverb

1.

not only so, but

  • “I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English ye, ȝea, ya, ȝa, from Old English ġēa, iā (“yea, yes”), from Proto-West Germanic *jā. The modern pronunciation shows an irregular development of Early Modern English /ɛː/ to /eɪ/ in the standard language, probably from association with the antonym nay.

Related words

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.