nayword
English
Noun
nayword (plural naywords)
- (obsolete) A byword or proverb.
- (obsolete) A watchword.
- Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor. Act V, Scene 2
- Slender. Ay, forsooth; I have spoke with her and we have a nay-word how to know one another: I come to her in white, and cry 'mum;' she cries 'budget;' and by that we know one another.
- Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor. Act V, Scene 2
Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for nayword in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)