DictionaryAI

yea

YAY/jeɪ/

Noun pluralyeas

6 meanings of yea

Practice

  1. 1
    SayYEH/jɛə/
    interjectionnonstandard
    Nonstandard spelling of yeah: yes, in casual speech or writing.

    Yea, that movie was great.

    Yea, we can meet up a little later.

    UsageFor the casual yes, write yeah (not incorrect: yea), since readers may hear the old solemn word.

  2. 2
    yes votenouncountable
    A vote in favor of a proposal, whether spoken aloud or cast some other way.

    The bill needed a clear majority of yeas to move forward.

    Recently senators could fax in their yeas or nays to the committee chairman.
    2009, “Still Broken After All These Years”, in The New York Times

    UsageUsually paired with nays: the yeas and nays. The plural is yeas.

    Similaraye, yes

    Oppositenay

    Note

    The New York Times in 2009 could report senators faxing theirs in, so a yea need not be said aloud.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

  3. 3
    formal yesadverbarchaic
    Yes; used to affirm or express agreement.

    UsageSounds like yay and rhymes with nay; it is not the same word as yeah.

    Similaraye

    Oppositenay, no

    Note

    The old affirmative of English comes down from Old English ġēa. Its rhyme with nay is not inherited: the vowel developed irregularly, probably pulled into line by its opposite. Modern writers who use it treat it as a deliberate antique that lends a solemn, scriptural ring. It still lives on in voice votes, where members call out yea or nay.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

  4. 4
    hoorayinterjectionnonstandardmisspelling
    Misspelling of yay: a cry of delight or celebration.

    Yea, our team made it to the finals!

    Yea, the show is back for another season!

Less common meanings

  1. 5
    conjunctionarchaic
    Or even; used to introduce a stronger and more fitting expression than the one just stated.
    O stay, three lives in one flea spare, Where we almost, yea, more than married are.
    c. 1633, John Donne, The Flea
    Note

    Here the word corrects upward rather than agreeing. It sets a stronger phrase beside a weaker one, as when John Donne's The Flea has the lovers "almost, yea, more than married." Its opposite, nay, does the same work in the same slot and still survives in formal prose.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • John Donne's The Flea contains the quoted words “almost, yea, more than married.” en.wikisource.org
  2. 6
    this muchadverbcolloquialUS
    So; used to indicate a size or amount, often shown with a hand gesture giving the measurement.

    He caught a fish about yea long, spreading his hands two feet apart.

    The snowbank was yea high by morning, well past my knees.

    UsageUsed before an adjective of size, often after about: about yea long, yea high.

    Similarthis (entry), so

    Note

    A Midwestern American pointing word: it stands before an adjective of size, as in yea high or yea long, usually after about, and leaves the actual number to the hands.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of yea apart? Answer 4 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 2–3, 5–6

Old English ġēa or iā ("yea, yes") became Middle English ye, ȝea or ya, and it goes back to Proto-West Germanic *jā. Its sound today is the result of an irregular change, probably because people linked it with its opposite, "nay."

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

Meaning 1

From "yeah".

Meaning 4

A misspelling of the cheer yay, which is itself an alteration of the older word yea.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts