|
|
| |
Definitions for: Negative
[n] a piece of photographic film showing an image with black and white tones reversed
[n] a reply of denial; "he answered in the negative"
[adj] involving disadvantage or harm; "minus (or negative) factors"
[adj] expressing or consisting of a negation or refusal or denial
[adj] reckoned in a direction opposite to that regarded as positive
[adj] designed or tending to discredit, especially without positive or helpful suggestions; "negative criticism"
[adj] having the quality of something harmful or unpleasant; "ran a negative campaign"; "delinquents retarded by their negative outlook on life"
[adj] characterized by or displaying negation or denial or opposition or resistance; having no positive features; "a negative outlook on life"; "a colorless negative personality"; "a negative evaluation"; "a negative reaction to an advertising campaign"
[adj] (mathematics) less than zero; "a negative number"
[adj] (medicine) not indicating the presence of microorganisms or disease or a specific condition; "the HIV test was negative"
[adj] having a negative electric charge; "electrons are negative"
[v] vote against; refuse to endorse; refuse to assent
Webster (1913) Definition: Neg"a*tive, a. [F. n['e]gatif, L. negativus, fr.
negare to deny. See Negation.]
1. Denying; implying, containing, or asserting denial,
negation or refusal; returning the answer no to an inquiry
or request; refusing assent; as, a negative answer; a
negative opinion; -- opposed to affirmative.
If thou wilt confess, Or else be impudently
negative. --Shak.
Denying me any power of a negative voice. --Eikon
Basilike.
Something between an affirmative bow and a negative
shake. --Dickens.
2. Not positive; without affirmative statement or
demonstration; indirect; consisting in the absence of
something; privative; as, a negative argument; a negative
morality; negative criticism.
There in another way of denying Christ, . . . which
is negative, when we do not acknowledge and confess
him. --South.
3. (Logic) Asserting absence of connection between a subject
and a predicate; as, a negative proposition.
4. (Photog.) Of or pertaining to a picture upon glass or
other material, in which the lights and shades of the
original, and the relations of right and left, are
reversed.
5. (Chem.) Metalloidal; nonmetallic; -- contracted with
positive or basic; as, the nitro group is negative.
Note: This word, derived from electro-negative, is now
commonly used in a more general sense, when acidiferous
is the intended signification.
Negative crystal.
(a) A cavity in a mineral mass, having the form of a
crystal.
(b) A crystal which has the power of negative double
refraction. See refraction.
negative electricity (Elec.), the kind of electricity which
is developed upon resin or ebonite when rubbed, or which
appears at that pole of a voltaic battery which is
connected with the plate most attacked by the exciting
liquid; -- formerly called resinous electricity. Opposed
to positive electricity. Formerly, according to
Franklin's theory of a single electric fluid, negative
electricity was supposed to be electricity in a degree
below saturation, or the natural amount for a given body.
see Electricity.
Negative eyepiece. (Opt.) see under Eyepiece.
Negative quantity (Alg.), a quantity preceded by the
negative sign, or which stands in the relation indicated
by this sign to some other quantity. See Negative sign
(below).
Negative rotation, right-handed rotation. See
Right-handed, 3.
Negative sign, the sign -, or minus (opposed in
signification to +, or plus), indicating that the
quantity to which it is prefixed is to be subtracted from
the preceding quantity, or is to be reckoned from zero or
cipher in the opposite direction to that of quanties
having the sign plus either expressed or understood; thus,
in a - b, b is to be substracted from a, or regarded as
opposite to it in value; and -10[deg] on a thermometer
means 10[deg] below the zero of the scale.
Neg"a*tive, n. [Cf. F. n['e]gative.]
1. A proposition by which something is denied or forbidden; a
conception or term formed by prefixing the negative
particle to one which is positive; an opposite or
contradictory term or conception.
This is a known rule in divinity, that there is no
command that runs in negatives but couches under it
a positive duty. --South.
2. A word used in denial or refusal; as, not, no.
Note: In Old England two or more negatives were often joined
together for the sake of emphasis, whereas now such
expressions are considered ungrammatical, being chiefly
heard in iliterate speech. A double negative is now
sometimes used as nearly or quite equivalent to an
affirmative.
No wine ne drank she, neither white nor red.
--Chaucer.
These eyes that never did nor never shall So much
as frown on you. --Shak.
3. The refusal or withholding of assents; veto.
If a kind without his kingdom be, in a civil sense,
nothing, then . . . his negative is as good as
nothing. --Milton.
4. That side of a question which denies or refuses, or which
is taken by an opposing or denying party; the relation or
position of denial or opposition; as, the question was
decided in the negative.
5. (Photog.) A picture upon glass or other material, in which
the light portions of the original are represented in some
opaque material (usually reduced silver), and the dark
portions by the uncovered and transparent or
semitransparent ground of the picture.
Note: A negative is chiefly used for producing photographs by
means of the sun's light passing through it and acting
upon sensitized paper, thus producing on the paper a
positive picture.
6. (Elect.) The negative plate of a voltaic or electrolytic
cell.
Negative pregnant (Law), a negation which implies an
affirmation.
Neg"a*tive, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Negatived; p. pr. &
vb. n. Negativing.]
1. To prove unreal or intrue; to disprove.
The omission or infrequency of such recitals does
not negative the existence of miracles. --Paley.
2. To reject by vote; to refuse to enact or sanction; as, the
Senate negatived the bill.
3. To neutralize the force of; to counteract.
Synonyms: antagonistic, backward, bad, blackball, counter, damaging, destructive, disadvantageous, disconfirming, dismissive, dissentient, dissenting(a), dissident, electronegative, harmful, minus, perverse, veto
Antonyms: affirmative, affirmative, affirmatory, confirming, electroneutral, electropositive, neutral, positive
See Also: contradict, controvert, defeat, denial, disinclined, double negative, film, kill, nay, no, oppose, pessimistic, photographic film, unfavorable, unfavourable, unsupportive, vote, vote down, vote out
|
|
Try our:
Scrabble Word Finder
Scrabble Cheat
Words With Friends Cheat
Hanging With Friends Cheat
Scramble With Friends Cheat
Ruzzle Cheat
Related Resources:
animals beginning with d
animals starting with s
animal facts
|
