| 释义 |
positive, a. and n.|ˈpɒzɪtɪv|
Forms: 4 positif, -ityue, -etyve, 4–5 -itife, 4–7 -itiue, 5 -ityve, -ytyfe, -atyue, 6 -ytive, -etyfe, 6– positive (4–7 poss-).
[ME. positif, a. F. positif (13th c. in Hatz.-Darm.) characterized by laying down or by being laid down, ad. L. positīv-us, in grammar, positive, f. posit-us, pa. pple. of pōnĕre to place, put, lay down: see -ive.]
A. adj.
I. Connected with the notion of formal, explicit, or dogmatic laying down of any statement.
1. Formally laid down or imposed; arbitrarily or artificially instituted; proceeding from enactment or custom; conventional; opp. to natural.
a1300Cursor M. 9433 Þe first lagh was kald ‘o kind’..Þe toþer has ‘positiue’ to nam. Ibid. 9449 Þe laghes bath he þan for-lete, Bath naturel and positif. c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 392 I-bounden oonly by a posityue lawe. 1467–8Rolls of Parlt. V. 622/2 All the Lawes of the world..which resteth in thre;..the Lawe of God, Lawe of nature and posityve Lawe. 1594W. Clerke Triall of Bastardie (title-p.) A Table of the Leuitical, English, and Positiue Canon Catalogues. 1644Bulwer Chirol. 3 Habits of the Hand are purely naturall, not positive. 1651Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxvi. (1839) 271 Again, of positive laws some are human, some divine; and of human positive laws, some are distributive, some penal. c1760Warburton Unpubl. Papers (1841) 273 The question is..whether the observation of the Sabbath was a natural or positive duty? 1845Stephen Comm. Laws Eng. (1874) II. 34 In the reign of Queen Anne it [copyright] became the subject of positive regulation. 1883J. M. Lightwood (title) The Nature of Positive Law. 1902Fairbairn Philos. Relig. iii. i. iv. 5 Positive is public law, proclaimed and upheld by some public authority... Founded religions are by the very necessities of their origin positive.
2. Explicitly laid down; expressed without qualification; admitting no question; stated, explicit, express, definite, precise; emphatic; † objectively certain.
1598Shakes. Merry W. iii. ii. 49 It is as possitiue, as the earth is firme, that Falstaffe is there. 1599― Hen. V, iv. ii. 25. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. ix. vii. §27 To..give in his positive answer to the following Articles. 1670Cotton Espernon ii. vii. 311 [They] resolv'd in the end upon a positive night, wherein with four Companies of Swisse to surprize him in his own house. c1709Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to Mrs. Hewet Nov., Positive orders oblige us to go tomorrow. 1799J. Robertson Agric. Perth 437 A positive rotation of crops need not be prescribed in the lease, except to an ignorant peasantry. 1810Gouv. Morris in Sparks Life & Writ. (1832) III. 254 Positive assertion is not always polite. 1827Jarman Powell's Devises (ed. 3) II. 7 An express and positive devise cannot be controlled by the reason assigned, nor by inference and argument from the other parts of the will. 1870Freeman Norm. Conq. (ed. 2) I. App. 702 A strong presumption, though it does not reach positive proof.
3. Of persons: Confident in opinion or assertion; convinced, assured, very sure; also, being or expressing oneself over-sure; opinionated, cocksure, dogmatic, dictatorial.
1665Phil. Trans. I. 105 He is pretty positive that..no rational Account can be given. 1702Pope Jan. & May 144 Each wondrous positive, and wondrous wise. 1732Berkeley Alciphr. iii. §14 He is positive as to the being of God. 1781Cowper Conversat. 146 Where men of judgment creep and feel their way, The positive pronounce without dismay. 1844Lingard Anglo-Sax. Ch. (1858) I. i. 9 note, Ussher is positive that the visit occurred. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 265 Nor is Socrates positive of any⁓thing but the duty of enquiry. 1879M. E. Braddon Clov. Foot II. i. 16 Are you sure?..Pretty positive.
II. Unqualified, unrelated, absolute.
4. Gram. Applied to the primary form of an adjective or adverb, which expresses simple quality, without qualification, comparison, or relation to increase or diminution. (See also B. 1.)
1447O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 161 Be twyx them tweyn owyth no more to be Than is be twyn a posatyve and a comparatyve degre. 1591Percivall Sp. Dict. B iv, The comparatiue exceedeth the positiue. 1669Milton Accedence Wks. (1847) 460/2 There be two degrees above the positive word itself, the comparative, and superlative. 1704J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Positive Degree of Comparison in Grammar, is that which signifies the Thing simply and absolutely, with⁓out comparing it with others; it belongs only to Adjectives. 1873Morris Hist. Outl. Eng. Accid. §109 There are three degrees of comparison: the positive, high; the comparative, higher; the superlative, highest.
5. a. Having no relation to or comparison with other things; free from qualifications, conditions, or reservations; absolute, unconditional; opposed to relative and comparative.
1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. ii. iii. 70 Patroclus is a foole positiue. 1628T. Spencer Logick 24 A positiue argument, is that which is attributed simply, and absolutely considered in it selfe: not compared with others. 1713Berkeley Hylas & Phil. i. Wks. 1871 I. 290 You have no idea at all, neither relative nor positive, of Matter. 1721Bradley Philos. Acc. Wks. Nat. 92 Such as feed upon raw Flesh are positive in their Ferocity. 1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v., Beauty is no positive thing, but depends on the different tastes of the people. 1867Freeman Norm. Conq. I. v. 428 Two hills of slight positive elevation, but which seem of considerable height in the low country.
b. colloq. That is absolutely what is expressed by the n.: nothing less than, downright, ‘perfect’; ‘out-and-out’.
1802Syd. Smith Wks. (1867) I. 15 Nothing short of a positive miracle can make him an acute reasoner. 1838Granville Spas Germ. 253 It is impossible for the less bold and the timid..to stem the positive mobs by which the portico and space before the Mühlbrunn are besieged. 1853Lytton My Novel x. x, You are a positive enigma. 1889Gretton Memory's Harkb. 47 The excitement, the positive panic throughout the town, when the news came.
c. Functioning for the special purpose required; having or being a well-defined and effective action.
1903Sci. Amer. 21 Feb. 134/1 Instead of depending on splash lubrication alone for oiling every part of the engine, positive oil feeds are led to each of the crankshaft bearings. 1938L. V. W. Clark in A. E. Dunstan et al. Sci. of Petroleum I. ix. 434/1 Blow-out preventers of the first group have been..quite satisfactory for drilling in areas of normal pressure, but where higher pressures are encountered it becomes necessary for a positive control to be available. 1958Times 1 July 6/6 The steering, which used to be somewhat indefinite, is now light and pleasantly positive in action. 1972Physics Bull. Apr. 230/2 Minor but important details have been considered—the cable is five feet long and very flexible, the grip on the bench (with rubber ball feet) is positive. 1977Offshore Engineer Apr. 27/2 The port has a step-down diameter which provides a positive stop during pipe pull-in. 1977Sci. Amer. Aug. 106/1 The unassisted drum brakes are balanced and positive in action but require heavy foot pressure.
III. Having relation only to matters of fact.
6. a. Dealing only with matters of fact and experience; practical, realistic; not speculative or theoretical.
positive philosophy, the philosophic system of Comte: = positivism 1.
1594Carew Huarte's Exam. Wits x. (1596) 140 This selfe difference there is between the Schoole-diuine and the positiue, that the one knoweth the cause of whatsoeuer importeth his faculty; and the other the propositions which are verefied, and no more. 1642Howell For. Trav. (Arb.) 30 The one addicts himselfe for the most part to the study of the Law and Canons, the other to Positive and Schoole Divinity. 1856Bagehot Lit. Stud. (1879) II. 26 He [Gibbon] was what common people call a matter-of-fact reader, and philosophers now-a-days a positive reader.
1864F. B. Barton in Soc. Sc. Rev. Mar. 214 The teachers of the Positive Religion of Humanity hold that all theology has been an attempt of man to explain his relationship to the forces of nature to which he is subjected. 1875Bridges tr. Comte's Syst. Positive Pol. I. 39 The charge of Materialism which is often made against Positive philosophy is of more importance.
b. Dealing with facts, apart from any theory; cf. objective a. 3 b. rare.
1888Bryce Amer. Commw. II. lxxv. 619 Stating in a purely positive, or, as the Germans say, ‘objective’, way, what the Americans think about the various features of their system.
c. Of a conjunction: Introducing a subordinate clause which states a matter of fact, not of hypothesis; e.g. he did as he was told; he came because he was invited.
1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) VIII. 79/2 As to the continuatives, they are either suppositive, such as if, an; or positive, such as because, therefore, as, &c.
7. Actual, real; sensible, concrete. rare.
positive image = real image: see real a. 1 e.
1831Brewster Optics ii. 18 In concave mirrors there is, in all cases, a positive image of the object formed in front of the mirror, excepting when the object is placed between the principal focus and the mirror. 1856Mrs. Browning Aur. Leigh i. 262 The skies themselves looked low and positive, As almost you could touch them with a hand. 1897W. P. Ker Epic & Romance 9 Its motives of action are mainly positive and sensible,—cattle, sheep, piracy, abduction, merchandise, recovery of stolen goods, revenge.
IV. Having real existence; opposed to negative.
8. a. Consisting in or characterized by the presence or possession, and not merely by the absence or want, of features or qualities; of an affirmative nature. Also, consisting in or characterized by constructive action or attitudes; see also positive thinking below. Often opposed to negative a. 5.
1618E. Elton Exp. Rom. vii (1622) 456 The corruption of nature..is a positive thing, and hath a real being. 1643Prynne Sov. Power Parl. iv. App. 130 Here all the kings of the Israelites..are strictly bound by God himself to negative and positive conditions. 1729Butler Serm. Wks. 1874 II. 68 Ease from misery occasioning for some time the greatest positive enjoyment. 1794J. Hutton Philos. Light, etc. 134 Cold is an element as positive as heat; for, cold in bodies is the negative of heat, as much as heat is the negative of cold. 1838De Morgan Ess. Probab. 122 The exceptions are forgotten;..it is the character of negative events to lay less firmly hold of the mind than positive ones. 1858O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. viii, There are blondes who are such simply by deficiency of coloring matter,—negative or washed blondes... There are others that are shot through with golden light, with tawny or fulvous tinges in various degree,—positive or stained blondes, dipped in yellow sunbeams. 1867A. Barry Sir C. Barry vi. 185 Relieved by positive colour. 1930H. Crane Let. 22 May (1965) 351 The poem [sc. The Bridge]..is, I think, an affirmation of experience, and to that extent is ‘positive’ rather than ‘negative’ in the sense that The Waste Land is negative. 1961Oregonian (Portland, Oregon) 24 Oct. 8 The Portland school board was asked..to take a positive stand towards developing..more plans for the city's schools in event of attack. 1971Times 15 Feb. 9/3 Ireland were the more positive side throughout and the same XV has been chosen for the game against Scotland. Ibid. 9/4 All the positive rugby after the interval came from Ireland. 1973Howard Jrnl. XIII. 310 The opportunity to have a positive experience of learning may be very significant. 1976M. Millar Ask for me Tomorrow (1977) xvi. 132 Please try to take a more positive attitude.
b. Of a term, etc.: Denoting the presence or possession, as opposed to the absence, of a quality.
1725Watts Logic i. iv. §2 Terms are either positive or negative. 1855Bain Senses & Int. i. i. §1 (1864) 2 It is desirable to possess, in addition to this negative definition,..a positive definition, or a specification of the quality or qualities that appertain to the phenomena designated mind. 1877E. R. Conder Bas. Faith ii. 66 Negative forms of speech and thought are continually employed to express positive ideas. ‘Discord’, ‘disunion’, ‘anarchy’, have a very positive meaning.
c. Designating a copy or likeness of an object with the same relief as that of the original, as opposed to the reverse relief of a mould.
1911[see negative a. 11 a]. 1931[see negative n. 8 c]. 1940[see negative a. 11 a]. 1973[see negative n. 8 b].
d. Psychol. positive thinking: the practice or result of concentrating one's mind affirmatively on what is constructive and good, thereby eliminating from it negative or destructive thoughts and emotions; also attrib.; positive transfer: the transfer of effects from the learning of one skill that facilitate the subsequent learning of another skill; positive transference: transference in which the feelings involved are of a positive or affectionate nature.
1916C. E. Long tr. Jung's Coll. Papers Analytical Psychol. ix. 270 As long as it is a question of the so-called ‘positive’ transference, the infantile-erotic character can usually be recognised without difficulty. 1921F. N. Freeman Exper. Educ. ii. 47 There is..positive transfer again from Set 3 to Set 4. 1924, etc. [see negative transference s.v. negative a. 8 c]. 1933R. W. Bruce in Jrnl. Exper. Psychol. XVI. 351 There is a marked positive transfer in learning to make an old response to a new stimulus. 1953N. V. Peale (title) The power of positive thinking. Ibid. i. 2, I listened to your speech tonight in which you talked about the power of positive thinking. 1959N. V. Peale Amazing Results of Positive Thinking p. vii, By the application of positive thinking principles to their own life situations, they have mastered fear, healed personal relationships,.. and gained strong new confidence. 1970B. C. Mathis et al. Psychol. Found. Educ. iii. 83 If the experimental group is superior to the control group on B..positive transfer of training is said to have occurred. 1970A. Janov Primal Scream xiv. 246 When the therapist is helpful and warm and offers a bit of advice, he is encouraging the ‘positive’ transference. 1974Country Life 21 Nov. 1616/2, I believe that positive thinking can help one overcome many difficulties in life.
e. Pol. positive neutralism or positive neutrality: a policy adopted by some of the poorer and less developed countries of maintaining relations with each of the major powers while remaining neutral in regard to their rivalry (see quot. 1968). So positive neutralist.
[1957Political Sci. Q. LXXII. 266 A communiqué condemning the development of Power blocs in international affairs and urging neutralism as a positive way towards the establishment of international peace.] 1960Sunday Times 28 Aug. 5/1 ‘We Africans are positive neutralists.’.. These phrases..have cropped up constantly in the speeches so far: ‘positive neutralism’ [etc.]. 1961NATO or Neutrality (Fabian Soc.) iv. 20 A policy of positive neutrality would be of immense assistance in helping Britain establish good post-imperial relations with the new countries. 1968P. Calvocoressi World Politics since 1945 iv. xiii. 256 Neutralism and non-alignment, therefore, as distinct from neutrality, were the expression of an attitude towards a particular and present conflict: they entailed, first, equivalent relations with both sides and, secondly—in the phase called positive neutralism—attempts to mediate and abate the dangerous quarrels of the great.
9. a. Alg. Of a quantity: Greater than zero; additive: the opposite of negative a 6. positive sign: the sign +, used to mark a positive quantity.
1704J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Positive Quantities in Algebra, are such as are of a Real and Affirmative Nature, and either have, or are supposed to have the Affirmative or Positive Sign + before them. 1743Emerson Fluxions 74, λ is any positive whole Number greater than 0. 1827Hutton Course Math. I. 167 When a quantity is found without a sign, it is understood to be positive, or have the sign + prefixed. 1865Tylor Early Hist. Man. i. 2 Cases in which the result of progress has not been positive in adding, but negative in taking away.
b. Hence: Reckoned, situated, or tending in the direction which (naturally or arbitrarily) is taken as that of increase, progress, or onward motion. The opposite of negative a. 8.
1873Maxwell Electr. & Magn. I. 24 If the actual rotation of the earth from west to east is taken positive. 1875Bennett & Dyer Sachs' Bot. 677 Its negative heliotropism is..only a special case of positive heliotropism. 1893Sir R. Ball Story of Sun 170 The angle between the pole projected on the Sun's disc and the north point..is reckoned as positive if it lies towards the left, that is, to the east.
c. positive logic: (a) [tr. G. positive logik (Hilbert & Bernays Grundlagen der Math. (1934) I. iii. 68)] (see quots. 1943, 1947); (b) circuit logic in which the larger or most positive signal is taken as representing 1 and the smaller signal 0.
1943Mind LII. 49 Of other ‘rudimentary systems’ I mention only the so-called positive logic, which does not operate with negations. 1947Mind LVI. 215 Rules 4.1 to 4.5 constitute the positive logic of compound statements, that is to say, they suffice for that part of propositional logic which is independent of negation. 1955A. N. Prior Formal Logic iii. ii. 258 This segment of Heyting's calculus forming what Hilbert and Bemays have called ‘positive logic’. 1958Proc. IRE XLVI. 1249 In the following discussion, positive logic is used. A binary ‘1’ is defined as the most positive signal potential, and a binary ‘0’ as the most negative. 1962,1968[see logic n. 4]. 1974D. A. Calahan et al. Introd. Mod. Circuit Anal. iii. 47/2 In theory, we must be told which type of logic, positive or negative, is assumed before we can determine the function of a logical device; in practice, positive logic is assumed unless otherwise specified. 1976Belove & Drossman Systems & Circuits for Electr. Engin. Technol. xiii. 325 We shall use the positive logic convention whereby a relatively low voltage represents logical 0 and a relatively high voltage represents logical 1.
10. Electr.
a. Applied to that form of electricity which is produced by rubbing glass with silk; vitreous: opposed to negative a. 7. (For the reason of this use see quot. 1812.)
1755B. Martin Mag. Arts & Sci. 322 What they had observed of positive and negative Electricity. 1770Priestley in Phil. Trans. LX. 197 The result was invariably the same, whether they and the rod were loaded with positive or negative electricity. 1812Sir H. Davy Chem. Philos. 127 The terms negative and positive electricity have been likewise adopted on the idea that the phænomena depend upon a peculiar subtile fluid which becomes in excess in the vitreous and deficient in resinous bodies. 1839Penny Cycl. XIV. 288/1 It will be easy to observe the analogy between the mutual relations of the two magnetisms [Austral and Boreal], and those of positive with negative electricities. 1876Preece & Sivewright Telegraphy 3 By an arbitrary convention the electricity excited on glass has been called positive, while that excited on sealing-wax has been called negative. All electrified bodies are either positively or negatively electrified.
fig.1831Carlyle Sart. Res. iii. x, Drudgism the Negative, Dandyism the Positive: one attracts hourly towards it and appropriates all the Positive Electricity of the nation (namely, the Money thereof); the other is equally busy with the Negative (that is to say the Hunger).
b. Of or pertaining to, or characterized by the presence or production of, positive electricity; spec. noting that member of a voltaic couple which is most acted upon by the solution, and from which a current of positive electricity proceeds.
1808Med. Jrnl. XIX. 191 Oxygen and acids..are naturally negative; hydrogen and inflammable bodies, in general, and alkalies, positive. 1812Sir H. Davy Chem. Philos. 321 Oxygene will separate at the positive surface, and small metallic globules will appear at the negative surface. 1815J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art II. 243 If a tourmalin be cut into several parts, each piece will have its positive and negative poles, corresponding to the positive and negative sides of the original stone. 1836–41Brande Chem. (ed. 5) 255 The conductor to which the cushion is attached is called the negative conductor; the other collects the electricity of the glass, and is called the positive conductor. 1876Preece & Sivewright Telegraphy 12 The zinc is named the positive plate or element, the copper the negative plate or element. 1885Watson & Burbury Math. Th. Electr. & Magn. I. 243 From 284° to 330° iron is positive to copper and negative to lead; above 330° lead is positive to copper and negative to iron. 1904Westm. Gaz. 14 Dec. 10/2 The bare [rail] running down the centre of the track being the return or negative, and the protected one at the side the ‘live’ or positive rail.
11. Magnetism. Applied to the north-seeking pole of a magnet, and the corresponding (south) pole of the earth, or the direction in which such a pole is impelled by another or by an electric current.
1849M. Somerville Connex. Phys. Sc. xxx. (ed. 8) 351 All the phenomena of magnetism, like those of electricity, may be explained on the hypothesis of one ethereal fluid, which is condensed or redundant in the positive pole. 1873Maxwell Electr. & Magn. (1881) II. 19–20 In speaking of a line of magnetic force we shall always suppose it to be traced from magnetic south to magnetic north, and shall call this direction positive. In the same way..the end of the magnet which points north is reckoned the positive end. We shall consider Austral magnetism, that is, the magnetism of that end of a magnet which points north, as positive.
b. fig. (from 10 and 11. Cf. pole n.2 9.)
1816Coleridge Lay Serm. 331 Of the positive pole, on the other hand, language to the following purport is the usual exponent. 1844Emerson Ess., Char. Wks. (Bohn) II. 383 Everything in nature is bipolar, or has a positive and negative pole.
12. Optics.
a. Of a double-refracting crystal: Having the index of refraction of the extraordinary ray greater than that of the ordinary ray; opposed to negative a. 9 a.
1831Brewster Optics xvii. §90. 147 In some [crystals] the extraordinary ray is refracted towards the axis..while in others it is refracted from the axis. In the first case the axis is called a positive axis of double refraction. Ibid. xxii. 196 The positive crystals, such as zircon, ice, etc. c1865J. Wylde in Circ. Sc. I. 79/2 Of some bodies possessing positive axes, we may mention quartz, ice, &c.; whilst Iceland spar,..prussiate of potass, &c., have negative axes.
b. positive eyepiece: an eyepiece consisting of two plano-convex lenses having their convex sides facing each other, in which the object is viewed beyond both lenses. Cf. negative a. 9 b.
1842Brande Dict. Sc., etc s.v. Telescope, The two lenses are usually plano-convex, with the convex faces towards the object-glass... This eye-piece is usually called the negative eye-piece, from its having the image seen by the eye behind the field-glass [i.e. between the field-glass and the eye-glass];..Another modification..is called the positive eye-piece, because the image observed is before both lenses [i.e. between the field-glass and the object-glass]. 1867Hogg Microsc. i. ii. 51 The positive eye-piece gives the best view of the micrometer.
c. Said of a visual image of the same colour or luminosity as the original sense-impression.
1899L. Hill Man. Hum. Physiol. xxxv. 439 On waking in the morning in a dark room strike a match, and immediately blow it out; a positive after-image of the light persists for a moment and then gradually dies away.
13. Photogr. Showing the lights and shades as seen in nature. Opposed to negative a. 10.
1840Sir J. Herschel in Proc. Roy. Soc. IV. 206 In order to avoid circumlocution the author employs the terms positive and negative to express respectively pictures in which the lights and shades are the same as in nature..and in which they are opposite; that is, light representing shade, and shade light. 1841Fox Talbot Specif. of Patent No. 8842 The portrait..is a negative one, and from this a positive copy may be obtained. 1859Gullick & Timbs Paint. 119 The artist works upon a very faint positive ‘impression’,..and entirely covers it with body colour, or equally opaque coloured crayons, with the express intention of concealing the tone of the photograph. 1881Lubbock in Nature 1 Sept. 410/2 He..by obtaining a negative rendered it possible to take off any number of positive, or natural, copied from one original picture.
V. Adapted to be placed or set down (literally).
14. positive organ: a small organ, orig. app. portable, but placed upon a stand when played (as distinct from a portative organ, which could be played while being carried in procession); often used formerly as an addition to the large organ in a church (the same as chair organ or choir organ in its early form), and recently revived in some churches.
1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v. Organ, Church organs consist of two parts, viz. the main body of the organ, called the great organ; and the positive, or little organ, which is a small buffet, usually placed before the great organ. 1879Stainer Music of Bible 156 The positive organ in our churches and halls, and the portative barrel-organ. 1900Oxford Times 26 May 7/6 Wytham. All Saints' Church. Opening of new ‘positive’ organ. 1905Athenæum 8 July 56/1 (Church Hist. Exhib. St. Albans) The Positive organ here shown has four stops, and is circa 1600; this was a larger instrument, and was placed on a stand during use, but it could be moved about when required.
VI.
15. Other collocations: positive discrimination, the making of distinctions in favour of groups considered disadvantaged or underprivileged, esp. in the allocation of resources and opportunities; positive electron, a particle analogous to the ordinary negative electron but having a positive charge: orig. applied to the proton, now to the positron; positive eugenics, an attempt to encourage the birth of children to parents having qualities considered desirable to the community; positive feedback (see feedback, feed-back n. a); positive pressure (Med.), pressure greater than that of the atmosphere, used to force air or oxygen into the lungs intermittently to supplement or replace natural inspiration; freq. attrib.; positive ray, a stream of positively-charged ions which are produced in a gas discharge tube and move towards the cathode; pl. except when attrib.
1967Children & their Primary Schools (Central Advisory Council for Educ.) I. v. 57 We ask for ‘positive discrimination’ in favour of such schools [in deprived areas] and the children in them, going well beyond an attempt to equalise resources. 1974Observer 21 Apr. 14/6 Israeli educationists regard this as a challenge, and positive discrimination—in theory at least—has become an article of faith. 1977Film & Television Technician Mar. 8/4 Ms Betty Lockwood, Chairman of the Equal Opportunities Commission, told a WEA seminar of trade union officials that positive discrimination inside unions and in training should be encouraged. That means discrimination in favour of either women or men, though in practice it is likely to mean women. 1978Daily Tel. 28 Jan. 16 Camden Council's announcement that henceforth members of immigrant minorities, even when less qualified, will be preferred for employment to indigenous citizens will bring to the boil the simmering debate on what is euphemistically known as positive discrimination or affirmative action.
1900Ld. Kelvin in Phil. Mag. L. 306 For atoms of electricity, which, following Larmor, I at present call electrons, it inevitably occurs to suggest a special class of atoms... A positive electron would be an atom which by attraction condenses ether into the space occupied by its volume; and a negative electron would be an atom which, by repulsion, rarefies the ether remaining in the space occupied by its volume. 1902[see electron2]. 1903O. Lodge Mod. Views on Matter 12 The chief defect in the electrical theory of matter at present is that the positive electron, if it exists, has never yet been isolated from the rest of an atom. 1921Phil. Mag. XLII. 307 So far as the writer can learn, the word proton was suggested by Rutherford for use in designating the hydrogen nucleus. This will also be designated as the positive electron in the present paper. 1932Science 9 Sept. 238/1 Up to the present a positive electron has always been found with an associated mass 1,850 times that associated with the negative electron. 1964M. Gowing Britain & Atomic Energy, 1939–1945 18 This positive electron, or positron as it is often called, was first found in..cosmic rays.
[1907C. W. Saleeby in Sociol. Papers III. 31 We must..preserve the two-fold aspect of eugenics, the one positive—the encouragement of the better; the other negative—the discouragement of the worse.] 1909― Parenthood & Race Culture xi. 172 We must clearly divide our proposals, as the present writer did some years ago, with Mr. Galton's approval, into two classes: positive eugenics and negative eugenics. Ibid., In regard to positive eugenics I..cannot believe in the propriety of attempting to bribe into parenthood people who have no love of children. 1914[see negative eugenics s.v. negative a. 8 c]. 1952C. P. Blacker Eugenics v. 111 The statement made [by Galton] in 1901 says that positive eugenics is more important than negative and that made in 1908 declares that negative eugenics is more pressing than positive. 1970Sci. Amer. Mar. 107 Conceivably a changed social climate and increased knowledge will make it possible for positive eugenics to be practiced on man. 1972P. B. Medawar Hope of Progress 71 The case for ‘positive eugenics’, that is for constructive rather than merely remedial eugenics, is based on the model of stockbreeding.
1885I. B. Yeo tr. Oertel's Respiratory Therapeutics ii. 607 (heading) Action of positive pressure on the surface of the thorax. 1909Arch. Internal Med. III. 369 During positive pressure respiration, the so-called artificial respiration of laboratory procedure, the blood pressure falls during inspiration and rises during expiration. 1948Anesthesiol. IX. 29 Positive pressure respiration decreases the venous return, and is in effect a way of applying tourniquets not only to all four extremities but also to the head and abdomen. 1970Jrnl. Pediatrics LXXVI. 183 The indications for intermittent positive pressure ventilation were asphyxia on admission, a single asphyxial attack, [etc.].
1903J. J. Thomson Conduction Electr. through Gases xvii. 522 On the view of the discharge given in Chap. xvi. there is a stream of positively charged molecules moving towards the cathode, causing this to emit cathode rays; if the cathode is perforated, part of this stream may pass through the holes, producing in the gas behind the cathode luminosity, forming in fact the Canalstrahlen, or positive rays as we may call them, if we think this view of their constitution sufficiently established. 1920[see mass spectrograph s.v. mass n.2 10 d]. 1922Glazebrook Dict. Appl. Physics II. 602/1 Positive rays were discovered by Goldstein in 1886 in electrical discharge at low pressure. 1955C. G. Darwin in W. Pauli Niels Bohr 9 Many elements in a positive-ray tube form temporary hydrides. 1968M. S. Livingston Particle Physics ii. 20 Thomson's studies of the positive rays from ionized hydrogen gas were the first experiments in which the proton was isolated and identified as a particle.
16. Comb.: positive definite adj. phr. Math., positive (formerly, positive or zero) in all cases; (of a matrix) having all its eigenvalues positive; hence positive-definiteness; positive-going a., increasing in magnitude in the direction of positive polarity; becoming less negative or more positive; positive–negative a., exhibiting both positive and negative characteristics.
1907M. Bôcher Introd. Higher Algebra xi. 150 A positive definite form is positive or zero for all real values of the variables. 1948W. V. Houston Princ. Math. Physics (ed. 2) vii. 120 The potential energy will be a quadratic expression in the coordinates that, if the equilibrium is stable, will be a positive definite expression. 1957L. Fox Numerical Solution Two-Point Boundary Probl. vii. 179 If all the λτ are positive, which is the case in many physical problems, and corresponds to some structure of the differential system corresponding to a positive-definite matrix A.., we can also assert [etc.]. 1970G. Sposito Introd. Quantum Physics iii. 53 We further restrict this scalar product by stipulating that it be positive-definite: (f, f) ⩾ 0.
1968Fox & Mayers Computing Methods for Scientists & Engineers i. 6 The associated matrix may be ‘general’, or it may have special properties such as symmetry, with or without positive-definiteness.
1957Wireless World Jan. 10/2 The area under the positive-going excursion is nearly equal to that under the negative-going excursion. 1979Sci. Amer. Mar. 104/1 (caption) A positive-going (but not negative-going) shift in membrane voltage causes a brief outward gating current that coincides with the opening of the sodium channels.
1946C. Morris Signs, Lang. & Behavior 82 Appraisors signify along a positive–negative continuum. 1964E. A. Nida Toward Sci. Transl. ii. 24 The differences between literal and free translating are, however, no mere positive–negative dichotomy, but rather a polar distinction with many grades between them.
B. n. (absol. or ellipt. use of the adj.)
1. Gram. The positive degree (see A. 4); an adjective or adverb in the positive degree.
1530Palsgr. Introd. 28 We..forme our comparatives and superlatyves out of our posytives. c1620A. Hume Brit. Tongue (1865) 30 The positive is the first position of the noun; as, soft, hard. 1755Johnson Dict., Gram., Of adjectives... The termination in ish may be accounted in some sort a degree of comparison, by which the signification is diminished below the positive, as black, blackish. 1876Mason Eng. Gram. (ed. 21) §108 Some adjectives which are comparatives in origin are now used as positives.
2. That which has an actual existence, or is capable of being affirmed; a reality.
1620T. Granger Div. Logike 93 Here is not one positiue, or being opposed to another contrarie positiue, or being,..but the affirmation, position, being thereof, is opposed to negation, deposition, annihilation, not being thereof. 1641R. Brooke Eng. Episc. i. v. 21 White and Blacke indeed are Both positives, but so is not Evill. 1878C. J. Vaughan Earnest Words 145 If these are not mere names and ideas, but realities, and facts, and positives.
†3. That which arbitrarily or absolutely prescribes or determines. Obs.
1685Baxter Paraphr. N.T. Rom. vii. 8 A great number of Legal Positives and Ceremonials had never obliged me. 1732Waterland Script. Vind. iii. 37 Positives.., while under Precept, cannot be slighted without slighting Morals also.
4. Elliptically or contextually for positive quantity (see A. 9); positive conjunction (see A. 6 c); positive plate, metal, etc. (see A. 10 b); positive organ (see A. 14); positive colour (see A. 8); etc.
1706W. Jones Syn. Palmar. Matheseos 35 To Connect a Negative and a Positive, is to make the one destroy the other. [1727–41Chambers Cycl., Positive, in music, denotes the little organ usually behind, or at the foot of the organist, played with the same wind.] 1751Harris Hermes ii. ii. (1765) 244 The Suppositives denote Connection, but assert not actual Existence; the Positives imply both the one and the other. 1881Spottiswoode in Nature 6 Oct. 549/2 The carbon which would be connected with the copper element of a Grove battery,..and which is called the positive, is the one more rapidly consumed. 1885A. J. Hipkins in Grove Dict. Mus. IV. 303/2 The organs are Orgel (with 3 divisions of pipes), Positive (a chamber organ), Regale (a reed organ), and Portative (pipe regal). 1899Daily News 7 Feb. 6/3 The picture is light in key, but though devoid of positives, save in the faint blue background, it is not really colourless.
5. Photogr. A picture in which the lights and shadows are the same as in nature: opposed to negative n. 8.
1853Fam. Herald 3 Dec. 510/2 To obtain from those pictures good prints or positives. 1883Hardwich's Photogr. Chem. (ed. Taylor) 188 Collodion Positives are sometimes termed direct, because obtained by a single operation.
Hence (nonce-wds.) ˈpositive v., (a) trans. to affirm positively, assert; (b) to produce a positive picture of; posiˈtival a., see quot.; ˈpositivize v. trans., to render positive or real.
1656S. H. Gold. Law 43, I may safely positive it, and say, that neither his Highness..nor the Parliament..might part with their Powers. 1894Sala London up to Date ii. 17 Being focussed, negatived, and positived in that apparel. 1865J. Grove Moral Ideals (1876) 13 For contrast to ideal in its adjective sense, I shall sometimes use the word positival. Ibid. 93 The notion of the summum bonum was very early de-idealized or positivized, and it was considered that nothing could..be considered to answer to this description except tangible, measurable, describable pleasure. |