yea-sayv.
/ˈjeɪseɪ/, U.S. /ˈjeɪˌseɪ/ 1. intransitive. To say ‘yea’; (hence) to assent, agree; to respond positively; to be a yea-sayer.
ΘΠ
the mind > language > statement > assent > [verb (intransitive)]
ensentc1290
accordc1300
to say yesa1400
senta1400
to say yeac1425
condescend1477
subscribe1531
accede1534
to take a person at his (also her) word1535
homologatea1649
to close with1654
to set one's seal1659
yes1820
yea-say1876
1876 W. Morris tr. Virgil Æneids xii. 377 And yea-saying she bowed [L. adnuit].
1959 Cumberland (Maryland) Evening Times 3 Mar. 14/4 I will yea-say first and tick off its merits.
1984 N. N. Eustis & S. K. Patten in D. J. Mangen & W. A. Peterson Res. Instruments in Social Gerontol. III. vii. 229 At least two problems plague measures of client satisfaction. One is the general tendency of older people to yea-say, or respond positively.
2014 Pittsburgh Tribune Rev. (Nexis) 10 June I'm not concerned with who's yea-saying or naysaying.
2. transitive. To say ‘yea’ to (a person); to assent or agree to (something).
ΘΠ
the mind > language > statement > assent > [verb (transitive)]
cordc1380
to give handsa1425
to fall to ——a1450
agree1472
to go into ——1540
astipulate1548
subscribe1560
seal1579
suffragate1606
give1621
assent1637
homologate1644
to take up with1673
affirmative1775
chorus1836
yea-say1887
yes1915
1887 W. Morris tr. Homer Odyssey II. xiii. 233 So he spake; and all yea-said him [Gk. ἐπῄνεον], and bade the thing to be.
1941 Music & Lett. 22 240 Only one who accepts, who yea-says this can recognize the full teaching of Oedipus.
1967 P. Foster Tom Paine i. 32 My hands sweat. How to yea-say this slaughter. All the notes. All the papers.
1991 J. Boggs in Detroit Free Press 23 Apr. 7 a/6 For much too long, the mayor has been ‘yeasaying’ the developers and ‘naysaying’ the people of Detroit.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2019; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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