请输入您要查询的英文单词：

　

单词 negative
释义

negativen.

Brit. /ˈnɛɡətɪv/, U.S. /ˈnɛɡədɪv/
Forms: Middle English negatife, Middle English 1600s negatyue, Middle English–1500s negatyfe, Middle English–1500s negatyve, 1500s–1600s negatiue, 1500s– negative; Scottish pre-1700 negatiue, pre-1700 negatiwe, pre-1700 negatyve, pre-1700 1700s– negative.
Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French negative, negatif; Latin negativa, negativum, negātīvus.
Etymology: Partly < Middle French negative (1283 in Old French; French négative ), use as noun of negatif, negative negative adj., and partly < post-classical Latin negativa negative word (4th cent.), negative statement or proposition (from early 13th cent. in British sources), negativum negative statement or proposition (from late 7th cent. in British sources), uses as noun of feminine and neuter singular respectively of classical Latin negātīvus negative adj.Later senses appear largely to be developments in English, chiefly after negative adj. In sense 2b after Italian negativa (1624 in the passage translated in quot. 1632 at sense 2b). In sense 5b after post-classical Latin negativus heretic (1578 or earlier), use as noun of masculine singular of classical Latin negātīvus negative adj.
I. Senses relating to denial or negation.
1.
†a. A negative command; a prohibition. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > prohibition > [noun] > a prohibition
forbodea1000
nayc1390
negativec1400
restraint1439
non1551
countermandment1560
countermand1581
estoppel1583
forbid1602
embarment1606
embargo1692
don'ta1826
forbiddance1855
c1400 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 234 (MED) O, if God so scharply biddes þese negatifes..who are more heretikes þen þese þat done hit ageynes hym?
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 506 (MED) Summe comaundementis of God ben negatyues, that is to seie, weernyngis or forbodis.
1581 W. Charke in A. Nowell et al. True Rep. Disput. E. Campion (1584) iv. sig. Eeivv The text Deut. 6. hath the negatiue, Thou shalt serue no strange gods.
b. A negative statement or proposition; a negative mode of stating something; a disproof.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > statement > negation > [noun] > statement
negativec1450
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical proposition > [noun] > condition of being affirmative or negative > a negative proposition
negative1628
negant1653
contrapositive1870
c1450 ( J. Walton tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Linc. Cathedral 103) 312 (MED) Knowen þinges þan sewynglye So he [sc. the soul] devideþ be a negatyue And afterwardes be affirmatyue.
1551 T. Wilson Rule of Reason sig. Fiiij A conuersion of .ij. negatiues, thus... No euill man is absolutely happy. Therfore an absolute happie man (consyderyng he is wise) cannot be euill.
1567 J. Jewel Def. Apol. Churche Eng. v. xv. §1. 579 By a like Negative Chrysostome saithe,..‘This tree neither..Paule planted.., nor God encreased.’
1581 W. Charke in A. Nowell et al. True Rep. Disput. E. Campion (1584) iv. Eejv Your affirmatiue is contrarie to the holy Ghostes..negatiue, Not of workes.
1628 T. Spencer Art of Logick 177 The first, is an vniversall affirmatiue. The third, is a particular negatiue.
1658 J. Bramhall Consecration Protestant Bishops Justified viii. 155 First to accuse us of Forgery, and then to put us to prove a Negative.
1736 T. Gray Let. 8 May in Corr. (1971) I. 39 Almost all the employment of my hours may be best explained by negatives.
1771 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) II. xliv. 160 I am not bound to prove a negative.
1856 R. A. Vaughan Hours with Mystics I. i. ii. 15 Almost all we are in a position to say, concerning spiritual influence, consists of negatives.
1876 P. G. Tait Lect. Recent Adv. in Physical Sci. (ed. 2) iii. 69 The consequent establishment of a definite and scientifically useful negative.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 2/1 The letters I, E and O are used respectively for the particular affirmative.., the universal negative ‘no x is y’, and the particular negative ‘some x is not y’.
1990 Pract. Eng. Teaching Dec. 31/3 Divide the class into two groups: one group can say positive statements; the other group uses negatives.
c. A negative reply or answer; negative pregnant n. [after post-classical Latin negativa pregnans (1300 in a Law French context)] Law a negative statement implying or involving an affirmative. Formerly also: †a refusal or rejection (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > statement > refusal > [noun] > a denial or refusal
nayc1390
negation?a1425
non1551
negativec1571
counterbuff1579
say-nay1657
repellent1777
repellence1817
raspberry1919
the mind > language > statement > affirmation and denial > [noun] > negative implying affirmative
negative pregnance1579
negative pregnant1607
c1571 E. Campion Two Bks. Hist. Ireland (1963) ii. ix. 124 Whoe was the messenger, where are the lettres? Convince my negatyve.
a1572 J. Knox Hist. Reformation Scotl. in Wks. (1848) II. 166 Quhairupone the saidis lordis gaif..a negatyve to everie ane of his petitiouns.
1607 J. Cowell Interpreter sig. Yy3v/1 Negatiue pregnant..is a negatiue implying also an affirmatiue. As is a man being impleaded, to haue done a thing vpon such a day, or in such a place, denyeth that he did it modo & forma declarata: which implyeth neuer the lesse, that in some sort he did it.
1634 W. Wood New Englands Prospect i. xii. 55 A false asseveration usually winneth more beleefe than two verifying negatives can resettle.
1657 in T. Burton Diary (1828) II. 265 You put a negative pregnant upon a man, to say that sitting at the door is more profane than standing.
1726 G. Odingsells Capricious Lovers v. iv. 90 This still confirms us, that a Refusal in Love is, (according to the Law Term) a Negative Pregnant.
1747 S. Richardson Clarissa I. ii. 11 Such-like consenting negatives.
1785 W. Cowper Epist. to J. Hill in Task 286 Dreading a negative, and overawed Lest he should trespass.
1802 J. Playfair Illustr. Huttonian Theory 516 Appearances that give the most direct negative to the Neptunian system.
1804 W. Cruise Digest Laws Eng. Real Prop. IV. 359 This general denial amounts only to a denial of personal notice to herself, and is a kind of negative pregnant.
a1817 J. Austen Persuasion (1818) III. iv. 58 Sir Walter..without actually withholding his consent..gave it all the negative of great astonishment, great coldness [etc.] . View more context for this quotation
1854 H. C. Robinson Diary 12 Feb. in On Bks. & their Writers (1938) II. 737 She must be careful not to assert a negative pregnant.
1891 T. Hardy Tess of the D'Urbervilles III. liii. 220 He asked his father if she had applied for any money during his absence. His father returned a negative.
1899 Newark (Ohio) Daily Advocate 6 Mar. 7/2 What we used to call in the school the ‘negative pregnant’ is worked by him to the fullest extent.
a1911 D. G. Phillips Susan Lenox (1917) II. xxii. 509 ‘Are you married to him?’.. ‘That is none of your business.’ ‘I thought you were not’, said Brent, as if she had answered his question with a clear negative.
1977 C. McCullough Thorn Birds (1978) IV. x. 236 Meggie answered dance and party invitations with polite negatives.
2003 N.Y. Law Jrnl. (Nexis) 1 Dec. 24 It did not view the second sentence of the statute, expressly not preempting described criminal law, as carrying ‘a negative pregnant that other state law is preempted’.
d. A negative word; a term expressing or conveying negation.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > statement > negation > [noun] > word
nayword1573
negative?a1580
negator1961
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > other grammatical categories or concepts > [noun] > use of negative > negative word or form
naymark1573
nay-say1573
nayword1573
negative?a1580
negator1961
?a1580 in Lyly's Wks. (1902) III. 462 In womens mouthes in case of loue no, no negatiue will proue.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) v. i. 19 If your foure negatiues make your two affirmatiues, why then the worse for my friends. View more context for this quotation
a1643 W. Cartwright Lady-errant i. ii, in Comedies (1651) sig. a5v Because two Negatives make an Affirmative.
1711 J. Greenwood Ess. Pract. Eng. Gram. 160 Two Negatives, or two Adverbs of Denying do in English affirm.
1827 Gentleman's Mag. 97 i. 498 Double negatives were commonly used to strengthen the negation in the time of Shakespeare.
1843 C. Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit (1844) xi. 129 The remark was rendered somewhat obscure..by reason..of a redundancy of negatives.
1870 W. S. Jevons Elem. Lessons Logic iii. 22 Negatives signify the absence of the same qualities.
1987 Multilingua 6 321 A few remnants of verb-second order remain in modern English including..placing the auxiliary second after an interrogative or negative.
2.
a. the negative. The side, position, or aspect of a question which is opposed to the affirmative or positive side, etc. Cf. sense 3c.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > statement > negation > [noun] > side
the negative1579
no1621
1579 W. Wilkinson Confut. Familye of Loue f. 5v Our Papistes, which can not abide an Argument drawen from the Negative.
1614 W. Raleigh Hist. World i. ii. xxiii. §4. 570 Whether Nabonassar were an Astrologer or no I cannot tell; it is hard to maintaine the negatiue.
1656 Earl of Monmouth tr. T. Boccalini Ragguagli di Parnasso ii. lxxvi. 356 The Negative to this was often broacht, and disputed.
1754 J. Edwards Careful Enq. Freedom of Will i. i. 2 The Positive and the Negative are set before the Mind for it's Choice, and it chuses the Negative.
1865 C. J. Vaughan Plain Words (1866) vi. 99 Let the negative have its positive.
1991 J. Mander In Absence of Sacred ii. ix. 164 Tobacco companies..present the positive, omit the negative, and call their few critics..‘troglodytes’.
†b. The capacity of refusal. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > statement > refusal > [noun] > capacity of refusal
negative1632
1632 J. Hayward tr. G. F. Biondi Eromena 94 Full little was he as yet aware of that the negative might have place in a courteous Lady.
3. in the negative.
†a. With of: in the face of, in opposition to. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > opposition > in the face of or in opposition [phrase]
in the negative?1592
?1592 J. Manwood Brefe Coll. Lawes Forest 223 Although that this Statute of Carta de Foresta were made in the negatiue of the Law and vsage that was before.
†b. On the negative side of a question. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > non-existence > [adverb] > negatively
privativelyc1475
in the negative1635
negatively1789
1635 E. Rainbow Labour 7 In the Negative, the inconvenience of the Obiect must deterre us.
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica i. vii. 27 A Testimony..is of no illation in the negative.
1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World xvii. 485 After all, I will not be peremptory in the Negative.
1821 T. Jefferson Autobiogr. in Writings (1984) 53 That those however in the negative were unwilling that any powers which it might be supposed they possessed should remain unexercised.
c. On the side of, in favour of, or with the effect of, rejecting a proposal, suggestion, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > statement > refusal > [adverb] > by way of rejection or repudiation
asidec1440
in the negative1647
disavowedly1698
rejectingly1832
dismissingly1880
dismissively1922
1647 Declar. Last Demands Sir Thomas Fairfax 3 To which the Houses were by the said violence inforced [whether they should be declared Null and void] it was carried in the Negative, That the question should not be put.
1654 E. Nicholas Papers (1892) II. 84 There were 120 for the affirmative..and 150 in the negative that it should not be determyned.
1711 Fingall MSS in 10th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1885) App. v. 144 The majority of votes carryed it in the negative.
1750 W. Beawes Lex Mercatoria (1752) 53 It was resolved in the Negative.
1803 Duke of Wellington Dispatches (1837) II. 321 If that should be determined in the negative.
1860 W. Collins Woman in White (new ed.) I. 148 I doubted..whether I ought to follow..or not. My intense anxiety to find myself face to face with her companion helped me to decide in the negative.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 689/1 There was determined opposition in Allegheny, every ward in the city voting in the negative.
1983 Age (Melbourne) 3 Dec. 11/2 Coming hard on the heels of the casino inquiry, which also recommended in the negative, the Government's decision on poker machines may give it a puritanical..image.
d. With denial or negation; negatively; so as to say ‘no’.Frequently criticized in usage guides in 20th cent.: see quot. 1965, and Webster's Dict. Eng. Usage (1989) 43/1.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > statement > negation > [adverb]
negatively?a1425
negative1642
in the negative1648
1648 F. Nethersole Project for Peace 6 To the three first I should make a short Answer in the Affirmative, to the fourth in the Negative.
1746 H. Walpole Lett. (1846) II. 137 They unanimously answered in the negative.
1756 E. Burke Vindic. Nat. Society 83 The grave Doctor answers me in the Affirmative. The reverend Serjeant replies in the Negative.
1843 C. Dickens Christmas Carol iii. 115 An answer in the negative was sufficient to have diverted their thoughts.
1871 W. H. Ainsworth Tower Hill i. iv Cromwell replied in the negative.
1923 R. Macaulay Told by Idiot ii. iii. 72 He replied in the negative, for he was, he said, too busy working on his new book to get abroad.
1965 E. Gowers Fowler's Mod. Eng. Usage (ed. 2) 384 ‘The answer is in the negative’ is Parliament language, but deserves much severer condemnation (as a pompous periphrasis for No, sir) than most of the expressions described as unparliamentary language.
1992 G. Adair Post-modernist always rings Twice 31 That favourite lunch-hour query of ‘Did you see..?’ would be answered more often than not in the negative.
†4.
a. The right to refuse consent to a proposed measure; a right of veto. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > prohibition > [noun] > veto > legislative or political > right or power of
exclusive1599
negative1613
exclusive voice1706
liberum veto1734
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage v. xv. 445 The meanest person amongst them hauing a Negatiue in all their consultations.
a1687 W. Petty Polit. Anat. Ireland (1691) 36 The Parliament..have a Negative upon any Law that the Lord Lieutenant and Councel shall offer to the King.
1765 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. I. 156 We may apply to the royal negative..what Cicero observes of the negative of the Roman tribunes.
1796 J. Morse Amer. Universal Geogr. (new ed.) I. 505 Each branch of the legislature has a negative upon the other.
1821 T. Jefferson Autobiogr. in Writings (1984) 5 The Governor, too, who had a negative on our laws held by the same tenure.
b. A negative or adverse vote. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > free will > choice or choosing > expression of choice by some approved method > [noun] > a vote > against
blackball1550
negative1621
1621 in S. M. Kingsbury Rec. Virginia Company (1906) I. 468 William Newce..was by the same chosen wth a generall consent (saue of three balls onely found in the negatiue boxe) to be Marshall of Virginia.
1654 in C. H. Firth Clarke Papers (1899) III. 11 The most part of the last weeke was spent about the qualifications of Electors..and many negatives passed upon them.
1683 W. Temple Mem. in Wks. (1720) I. 462 The House of Commons pass'd another Negative upon the Debate for Money.
1708 W. Kennett Let. 2 Oct. in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1827) 2nd Ser. IV. 256 A majority of the Aldermen..put a negative upon the motion for printing his Sermon.
1766 Debates & Proc. House of Commons I. 38 If we put a Negative upon this Question, it may awaken our Ministers out of their deceitful Dream.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. xviii. 183 William could defend the proprietary rights of the Crown only by putting his negative on the bill.
5.
a. A person who takes the negative or opposing side in a debate, argument, etc. rare after 17th cent.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > statement > negation > [noun] > side > one who takes the negative side
negative1649
1649 A. Ascham Bounds Publique Obed. 10 Nothing ought in this case to be concluded against the negatives, though fewer in number.
1673 in O. Airy Essex Papers (1890) I. 160 After great contest, there were no other Negatives but these two.
1789 T. Jefferson Let. 5 Aug. in Papers (1958) XV. 334 They decided..the question Whether they should begin by a Declaration of rights, by a great majority in the affirmative. The Negatives were of the clergy.
1986 D. Shields Dead Lang. (1990) xvi. 140 Only two of us were actually going to be in the debate... Leo was second negative, first rebuttal.
†b. A known or convicted heretic who still denies holding heretical views. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > heresy > [noun] > person > who denies heresy
negative1731
1731 S. Chandler tr. P. van Limborch Hist. Inquisition II. 295 Such as have confessed their Heresy, and are impenitent, and Negatives, viz. such who are convicted by a sufficient number of witnesses, and yet deny their Crime.
II. Senses relating to an opposite or inverse form, image, etc.
6.
a. The opposite, absence, or lack of something. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > contrariety or contrast > [noun] > the opposite of something
contraryc1386
reversec1405
the contraverse1480
nothing less?1520
contrariety1532
negative1532
oppositive1561
different1571
diameter1579
contrariwise1588
opposition1594
counterpoint1599
oppositea1616
other thing1628
antipodes1641
inverse1645
contra1648
contrast1754
converse1786
contrariant1848
antipole1856
obverse1862
antithetic1863
contradictory1874
antipathy-
the world > relative properties > relationship > contrariety or contrast > [noun] > the opposite of something > of or to something spec.
reversec1405
negative1532
repugnancy1586
antithesis1831
1532 (c1385) Usk's Test. Loue in Wks. G. Chaucer iii. f. ccclii Badde is nothing els, but absence or negatyfe of good, as derkenesse is absence or negatyue of lyght.
1532 (c1385) Usk's Test. Loue in Wks. G. Chaucer iii. f. ccclvi In him god dothe that they ben, and that in goodnesse they werchen. But the negatyfe herof in badnesse is holden.
1794 J. Hutton Diss. Philos. Light 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.
1882 C. H. Spurgeon Treasury of David VI. Ps. cxix. 19 As the one prays to see, the other deprecates the negative of seeing.
1969 C. Lushington in J. Berry Bluefoot Traveller (1977) 16 There is nothing so positive as the negative of self.
b. Originally: a negative quality, characteristic, or feature. Now (also): a drawback or disadvantage.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > [noun] > a disadvantage
damage1398
disadvantagec1425
afterdeal1481
disprofit?1555
where the shoe pinches?a1580
drawbacka1640
negative1702
take-off1797
letdown1840
disamenity1864
handicap1872
back-draw1883
disbenefit1968
1702 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion I. ii. 91 Which Qualifications were allay'd by another Negative, he did not much love Any body else.
1770 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) II. xxxvi. 68 You have now added the last negative to your character.
1958 A. Alvarez in Internat. Lit. Ann. 1 99 The Movement, for all its limitations and negatives, was immensely valuable.
1980 Associated Press Newswire (Nexis) 15 July The only negative..was the real estate subsidiary, which was hurt by declining home sales.
1999 Canad. Biker July 13/3 The only negatives I encountered were the harsh rear suspension and the head shield on the forward header pipe that should extend further rearward.
c. Mathematics. A number or amount that is lower than zero; a negative quantity; spec. (with of) the quantity obtained from a given (positive) quantity by subtracting it from zero or multiplying it by −1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > mathematical number or quantity > [noun] > particular qualities > signed (positive or negative)
minus1579
plus1579
nome1665
negative1706
positive definiteness1941
1706 W. Jones Synopsis Palmariorum Matheseos 35 To Add a Negative, is to take away a Positive.
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. at Negative sign The square root of a negative implies an imaginary quantity.
1905 Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 6 187 The inverse of an element a is here called the negative of a, and is denoted by −a.
1991 Struct. Change & Econ. Dynamics 2 133 G is the negative of the usual Hamiltonian.
†d. A person devoid of some quality, capacity, etc. Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
1813 Examiner 1 Feb. 73/2 Those negatives of feeling and thought who..call themselves people of fashion.
†e. Australian. A mine yielding no gold. Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
1864 J. Rogers Miner's Melody in New Rush 56 So we'll laugh at all negatives And on high our anchor cast.
7.
a. Photography. A developed image made on film or another medium (originally specially prepared glass) showing the lights and shades, and colour values, reversed from those of the original, and from which positive prints may be made. Also figurative and in figurative contexts.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > photography > a photograph > [noun] > showing reversed light and shade
negative1841
neg1874
cloud negative1892
photonegative1941
reduction negative1945
1841 D. Brewster Let. 27 July in L. J. Schaaf & C. Heap Sel. Corr. W. H. Fox Talbot (1994) 34 I am anxious to receive from you a Negative and the Positive picture made from it.
1859 J. M. Jephson & L. Reeve Narr. Walking Tour Brittany 88 We were only making what were called negatives on glass.
1867 A. Brothers in G. F. Chambers Descr. Astron. vii. vii. 698 From the small negative a positive on glass must be made.
1880 Amer. Jrnl. Math. 3 11 Now 19 and 20 are the negatives of each other in the photographic sense.
1892 R. L. Stevenson & L. Osbourne Wrecker x. 162 A negative of a street scene..rose in my memory with not a feature blurred.
1929 R. H. Goodsall Beginner's Guide Photogr. vii. 37 When the negative has been developed, washed and dried..it is ready to be printed.
1943 D. Baker Trio ii. 92 A light-meter on a cord, some photographic lenses, an envelope full of negatives.
1988 Smithsonian Stud. Amer. Art Fall 13/1 But Steichen's artistry in selecting the angle of vision.., and his technical skill in printing the negative, place him on the level of the master builder who created the span.
1993 Osho Everyday Meditator 24 When you first see the sun with open eyes, it creates a negative so when you close your eyes, you can see the sun dazzling inside.
b. A mould for a piece of sculpture, etc. Also, more generally: a reverse impression of something. Cf. negative adj. 11a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > imitation > [noun] > cast or impression > reverse impression or mould
negative1911
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > plastic art > modelling > [noun] > casting methods > mould
mould1530
intaglio1825
print1847
piece-mould1867
mother mould1898
negative1911
waste mould1929
1911 A. Toft Modelling & Sculpture x. 195 The mould or negative is next coated with a preparation of plumbago or black-lead, and placed in a bath where the metal is deposited into it.
1947 J. C. Rich Materials & Methods Sculpt. v. 95 If a plaster negative is fashioned over an earth-clay model, the original should not be too dry.
1961 J. Challinor Dict. Geol. 134/1 Negative, a fossil in the form of an impression.
1973 D. Cowley Working with Clay & Plaster 81 (caption) Plaster negative taken from a positive plaster cast.
c. Sound Recording. A disc similar to a gramophone record but having ridges in place of grooves, from which records are made. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > record > recording or reproducing sound or visual material > sound recording and reproduction > a sound recording > [noun] > record or disc > matrix or negative
master1904
matrix1904
master matrix1918
mother1918
negative1918
stamper1918
1918 H. Seymour Reprod. Sound 17 In 1900 he applied the vacuous deposit system in electrolysis to the production of record negatives.
1931 A. Nadell Projecting Sound Pict. xiv. 240 This metal plate..constitutes a ‘negative’ with which any number of ‘positive’ records may be stamped.
1974 Encycl. Brit. Macropædia XVII. 52/1 Berliner did not, however, contemplate using this etched master as the record to be played; rather, a negative was made from the master by electroforming.
8. A negative electrode, terminal, electrical lead, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > galvanism, voltaism > [noun] > pole > negative plate or pole
platinode1839
cathode1840
negative1851
1851 Sci. Amer. 26 Apr. 249/4 When the positive pole enters the cell, the negative is attached to its inside.
a1884 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Suppl. 368 Negative depolarized by jet of steam.
1964 G. Smith Storage Batteries ii. 23 Planté negatives have been obsolete for many years, and it is modern practice to form Planté positives against plain lead sheets.
1998 What Hi-Fi? May 77/3 The cable can be ‘commoned’ at the amp end—the two positive connectors into one plug, the two negatives into the other.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

negativeadj.adv.2int.

Brit. /ˈnɛɡətɪv/, U.S. /ˈnɛɡədɪv/
Forms: late Middle English negatyf, late Middle English negatyff, late Middle English– negative, 1500s negatyfe, 1500s negatyue, 1500s negatyve, 1500s–1600s negatiue; Scottish pre-1700 negatiue, pre-1700 negatyve, pre-1700 negatywe, pre-1700 1700s– negative.
Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French negatif.
Etymology: < Anglo-Norman and Middle French negatif, negative (12th cent. in Old French in sense ‘that which denies’ in phrase paroles negatives ; French négatif , (feminine négative )) < classical Latin negātīvus (of actions) restraining, inhibiting, (of words) negative (only in 2nd-cent. a.d. legal texts), in post-classical Latin also in logic (from late 11th or early 12th cent. in British sources) < negāt- , past participial stem of negāre (see negate v.) + -īvus -ive suffix. With use as adjective compare Italian negativo (1305–6), Spanish negativo (c1440). Compare earlier negative n.Among parallel uses of the word as adjective in French are: ‘expressing negation’ (1550 in Middle French in a grammatical context; compare sense A. 2), ‘devoid of positive qualities’ (1762; compare sense A. 4a), ‘(of a photograph) showing the lights and shades reversed from those of the original’ (1847 in phrase épreuve négative ; compare sense A. 10).
A. adj.
†1. Of a person: that denies something. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > statement > denial or contradiction > [adjective]
negativec1460
denegatory1823
contradicting1849
denying1874
nay-saying1960
c1460 (?c1400) Tale of Beryn 2068 And he had mysseyd onys, or els I-seyd nay..þen he had been negatyff.
c1460 (?c1400) Tale of Beryn 2606 To ȝew þat were negatyff, þe lawe wold graunte a-noon.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) i. ii. 276 If thou wilt confesse, Or else be impudently negatiue, To haue nor Eyes, nor Eares, nor Thought. View more context for this quotation
1736 S. Chandler Hist. Persecution 208 Negative hereticks are such, who being..convicted of some heresy before an Inquisitor, yet will not confess it.
2.
a. Expressing negation; conveying or characterized by denial or dissent.Now sometimes difficult to distinguish from sense A. 4b.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > statement > negation > [adjective]
negativec1475
sublative1751
negational1827
negatival1936
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > other grammatical categories or concepts > [adjective] > expressing negation
negativec1475
privative1568
sublative1751
neg1777
c1475 (c1445) R. Pecock Donet (1921) 181 (MED) Wheþir ech negative trewþe hangiþ vpon affirmative trewþe..must be deferrid for his hardnes.
1509 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure (1845) xxxiv. 110 By the comyn wytte to be affyrmatyve Or by decernynge to be negatyve.
1571 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Psalmes of Dauid with Comm. (vii. 5) So must the negatyve woord (not) bee supplyed.
1579 W. Fulke Heskins Parl. Repealed in D. Heskins Ouerthrowne 89 Hee did..beate doune the proclaymers negatiue argumentes.
1600 J. Hamilton Facile Traictise in T. G. Law Catholic Tractates (1901) 235 Thay mon also renunce ane vther article of thair negatiue faith detestand indulgencis.
1649 in E. Nicholas Papers (1886) I. 146 There are two negative conclusions which seeme necessary.
a1674 Earl of Clarendon Dialogue conc. Educ. in Tracts (1727) 333 I long to see a good Negative Catechism of Religion.
1722 R. Blackmore Redemption vi. 324 No conception form but negative.
1788 J. Madison in Federalist Papers lv. 144 I could not give a negative answer to this question, without first obliterating every impression which I have received.
1791 E. Burke Appeal New to Old Whigs 85 Their negative declaration obliges me to have recourse to the books which contain positive doctrines.
1803 J. Marshall Writings upon Federal Constit. (1839) 22 Affirmative words are often..negative of other objects than those affirmed.
1850 G. Grote Hist. Greece VIII. ii. lxviii. 606 It is by Plato that the negative and indirect vein of Sokratês has been worked out.
1891 Ld. Coleridge in Law Times Rep. 65 581/1 The negative statement that the 6 Geo. 4, c. 129, is not now on this subject the governing statute.
1924 H. E. Palmer Gram. Spoken Eng. 130 Sentences containing such negative words as nou, nVn, nevə..etc., are not negative sentences.
1986 W. Weaver tr. U. Eco Trav. in Hyper Reality iv. 143 Certain phenomena of ‘mass dissent’..today seem to us negative replies to the industrial society.
b. Logic. Expressing negation; designating a proposition whose logical form is the negation of another.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical proposition > [adjective] > affirmative > negative
negative1552
neg1777
1552 T. Wilson Rule of Reason (rev. ed.) sig. Hi If one of the proposicions bee particular, or negatiue, the conclusion is particular, or negatiue.
1628 T. Spencer Art of Logick 92 In this Chapter..wee must handle negatiue contraries.
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan i. iv. 16 Names, called Negative; which are notes to signifie that a word is not the name of the thing in question.
1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding ii. viii. 55 We have negative Names, to which there be no positive Ideas; but they consist wholly in negation of some certain Ideas, as Silence, Invisible; but these signifie not any Ideas in the Mind, but their absence.
1725 I. Watts Logick iii. i The Foundations of all negative Conclusions.
1846 J. S. Mill Syst. Logic (ed. 2) i. ii. §6 Negative names are employed whenever we have occasion to speak collectively of all things other than some thing or class of things.
1870 W. S. Jevons Elem. Lessons Logic vii. 63 A negative proposition..asserts a difference or discrepancy.
1952 A. J. Ayer in Jrnl. Philos. 49 797 There may be a problem about the way in which affirmative and negative statements are related to each other.
1987 T. Wolfe Bonfire of Vanities (1988) 25 You're asking me to prove a negative proposition.
1994 Noûs 28 483 Simple affirmative or simple negative propositions.
3.
a. Of a command, statute, precept, etc.: prohibitory, inhibitive.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > prohibition > [adjective]
prohibitive?a1425
inhibitory1490
negative1526
prohibitory1564
forbidding1574
inhibiting1607
countermanding1677
inhibitive1830
1526 Pylgrimage of Perfection (de Worde) f. 238v All the commaundementes of the seconde table, that be negatyue.
1629 Vse of Law 19 in J. Doddridge Lawyers Light But the Statute of Mag. Char. Cap. 5 is negative against it.
a1711 T. Ken Divine Love in Wks. (1838) 261 Keep my love watchful.., that in thy negative precepts I may continually resist evil.
1765 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. I. i. 137 A few negative statutes, whereby abuses, perversions, or delays of justice..are restrained.
1788 A. Hamilton in Federalist Papers xxxii. 200 There has been the most pointed care..to insert negative clauses prohibiting the exercise of them by the states.
1883 Mind 8 196 The so-called Laws of Thought..may serve as negative precepts regarding the employment of symbols.
1917 H. E. Palmer Sci. Study & Teaching of Lang. iv. 72 In many cases..the Direct Method..resolves itself into the negative precept: there must be no translation.
1977 Amer. Polit. Sci. Rev. 71 1646/1 Ockham reduced the natural law in the strictest sense to a single negative precept prohibiting the hatred of God.
b. Expressing refusal to do something; refusing consent to a proposal or course of action.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > statement > refusal > [adjective]
refusing1409
negative1576
declining1639
declinatory1673
ungiving1682
negativing1776
disavowing1828
1576 A. Fleming tr. Solon in Panoplie Epist. 194 They..yealded to his request, notwithstanding my negatiue voyce.
a1600 ( W. Stewart tr. H. Boece Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) II. 592 Malcolme..Wald nocht consent,..And gaif to him ane ansuer negatiue.
1621 T. W. tr. S. Goulart Wise Vieillard 56 Hee gaue his negatiue voyce and crossed the treatie of a dishonourable peace.
1681 H. Neville Plato Redivivus 125 But for this point of the Negative Vote, it is possible [etc.].
c1756 P. Collinson Let. in B. Franklin Papers (1963) VI. 449 On the Ballot for thy Election to be a Member of the Royal Society, there was not one negative Ball.
1886 T. Hardy Mayor of Casterbridge I. vii. 89 ‘My plans are fixed,’ said the young man in negative tones.
a1911 D. G. Phillips Susan Lenox (1917) I. x. 158 Another and negative shake of the head, more determined.
1991 N. Fowler Ministers Decide (BNC) 127 I see no advantage in adopting the Labour Government's negative stance and ruling out all possibility of a link being built.
†c. Opposed to. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > opposition > [adjective]
contrariousc1290
contraryinga1340
contrary1340
adversarya1382
overthwartc1384
contrairc1400
contrariantc1400
adverse1418
repugnantc1443
thwarting1530
pugnant1537
opposite1577
haggard1578
impugnant1579
kim-kam1582
antagonist1591
adversative1595
counter1596
opposing1597
antipathetical1601
thwart1601
aversed1609
aversive1609
adversarious1622
averse1623
antipathousa1625
inimicitious1641
opponent1641
negative1642
gainstanding1674
antithetic1753
opposed1784
oppositional1829
transversive1855
oppositionary1905
1642 E. Dering Coll. Speeches on Relig. xvi. 88 That I may as negative to this bill, be poasted up [etc.].
†d. Of a vote: able to impose a veto. Cf. negative n. 4. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > prohibition > [adjective] > vetoing > having power of veto
negative1648
negativing1776
tribunitian1783
1648 Perfect Narr. Parl. Scotl. 6 They are framing an Oath to be taken by their country-men for taking away the Kings Negative Voice in Parliament.
1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 287. ¶5 I do not find that the Consuls had ever a Negative Voice in the passing of a Law.
1775 G. Stuart tr. J. L. de Lolme Constit. Eng. ii. xvii. 398 To make use, even once, of its negative voice.
4.
a. Consisting in, characterized by, or expressing the absence rather than the presence of distinguishing features; devoid of or lacking distinctly positive attributes.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > non-existence > [adjective] > negative
wickeda1300
privativea1398
negative1565
sorrow1568
privant1629
minus1776
impositivec1856
1565 T. Stapleton Fortresse of Faith f. 103v I will not labour to recite euery particular of their negatiue religion.
1642 in Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion (1702) I. v. 381 His discharge was but Negative.
1662 E. Stillingfleet Origines Sacræ iii. i. §5 How ever positive we apprehend it, yet we alwaies apprehend it in a negative way.
1702 Eng. Theophrastus 249 No better than a negative traitor to his country.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones I. i. x. 54 The doctor..had no Bread to eat... Beside this negative Merit, the doctor had one positive Recommendation.
1801 H. Fuseli Lect. Painting I. ii. 62 He contented himself with a negative colour.
1873 H. Spencer Study Sociol. x. 259 These negative causes of dissatisfaction are joined with the positive cause indicated.
1891 T. Hardy Tess of the D'Urbervilles III. xlv. 97 It was so far removed from the charm which is sought in landscape..as to reach a new kind of beauty, a negative beauty of tragic blackness.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 522/2 He..persuaded him to adopt the negative policy of leaving Athens and Sparta to wear themselves out by their mutual struggles.
1959 J. Barzun House of Intellect ii. 38 The effort to please becomes negative—the avoidance of rough texture and all other causes of pain.
1989 Psychiatric Devel. 7 216 Items included as negative symptoms are: blunted affect, emotional withdrawal [etc.].
b. Of an attitude, opinion, response, etc.: critical, unfavourable, carping; hostile, destructive, antagonistic. Also of a person: having such an attitude, response, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > [adjective]
unfavourable1548
sinistral1560
head-shaking1626
disapproving1661
disapprobatory1751
neg1777
unapproving1787
disapprobative1821
rebukative1863
negative1867
1867 C. L. Robertson & J. Rutherford tr. W. Griesinger Mental Pathol. & Therapeutics iii. ii. 277 Those deeds of destruction, the savage attempts and ferocious acts committed by maniacs, are far from being always due to a true negative disposition of mind.
1889 Dict. National Biogr. XIX. 365/1 His negative bent made him before all things a censor and a critic.
1908 H. James Portrait of Lady (rev. ed.) II. xxvi. 394 Mrs. Touchett had..found a place on her scant list for this gentleman, though wondering dimly by what art and what process—so negative and so wise as they were—he had everywhere effectively imposed himself.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 904/2 Their Christology and negative attitude towards the state rather indicate..an affinity to the Cathari and other medieval sects.
1930 E. Bowen in Broadsheet Press May 1 Alban had few opinions on the subject of marriage; his attitude to women was negative—in particular he was not attracted to Miss Cuffe.
1978 S. Brill Teamsters i. 22 Negative press coverage of the Teamsters had heightened.
2000 St. Louis (Missouri) Post-Dispatch (Electronic ed.) 30 Jan. Would he take a negative attitude toward me? Would he hate me?
c. Of an attitude, opinion, etc.: pessimistic, defeatist.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > melancholy > [adjective] > pessimistic
unsanguine1728
pessimist1848
pessimistic1854
pessimistical1885
negative1895
gloom and doom1971
1895 Internat. Jrnl. Ethics 6 50 As one does not like to be entirely negative or pessimistic after so many words, I will mention an easy and inexpensive reform.
1930 H. Crane Let. 22 May (1965) 351 The poem..is..an affirmation of experience, and to that extent is ‘positive’ rather than ‘negative’ in the sense that The Waste Land is negative.
1958 J. K. Galbraith Affluent Society i. 5 There are negative thoughts here, and they cannot but strike an uncouth note in the world of positive thinking.
1983 J. Hennessy Torvill & Dean 72 There was no question of negative thinking and we had no intention of giving less than 101 per cent on the night.
1994 Amer. Health Sept. 62/1 When people who have it [sc. dispositional optimism] encounter setbacks, he says, ‘they renew their efforts and try to attain the goal,’ whereas those with negative expectations give up.
d. Of an emotion, emotional reaction, etc.: unhappy, unpleasant. Of an experience: discouraging, demoralizing, uncomfortable.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > displeasure > [adjective] > unpleasant
loatha700
unsweetc890
grimlyc893
unquemeOE
un-i-quemeOE
evila1131
sourc1175
illc1220
unhightlyc1275
unwelcomec1325
unblithec1330
unnetc1330
unrekena1350
unagreeablec1374
uncouthc1380
unsavouryc1380
displeasantc1386
unlikinga1398
ungaina1400
crabbedc1400
unlovelyc1400
displeasing1401
eschewc1420
unsoot1420
mislikinga1425
unlikelya1425
unlustya1425
fastidiousc1425
unpleasantc1430
displicable1471
unthankfulc1475
displeasant1481
uneasy1483
unpleasinga1500
unfaring1513
badc1530
malpleasant?1533
noisome1542
thanklessa1547
ungrate1548
untoothsome1548
ungreeable1550
contrary1561
disagreeable1570
offensible1575
offensive1576
naughty1578
delightlessa1586
undelightful1585
unwisheda1586
unpleasurable1587
undelightsomec1595
dislikeful1596
disliking1596
ungrateful1596
unsweet?a1600
distastive1600
impleasing1602
distasting1603
distasteful1607
unsightly1608
undelectable1610
disgustful1611
unrelishing1611
waspisha1616
undeliciousa1618
unwished-for1617
disrelishing1631
unenjoyed1643
unjoyous1645
mirya1652
unwelcomed1651
unpleasivea1656
sweet1656
injucund1657
insuave1657
unpalatable1658
unhandsome1660
undesirable1667
disrelishablea1670
uncouthsome1684
shocking1703
nasty1705
embittering1746
indelectable1751
undelightinga1774
nice and ——1796
unenjoyablea1797
ungenial1796
uncomplacent1805
ungracious1807
bitter1810
rotten1813
uncongenial1813
quarrelsome1825
grimy1833
nice1836
unrelished1863
bloody1867
unbewitching1876
ferocious1877
displeasurable1879
rebarbative1892
charming1893
crook1898
naar1900
peppery1901
negative1902
poisonous1906
off-putting1935
unsympathetic1937
piggy1942
funky1946
umpty1948
pooey1967
minging1970
Scrooge-like1976
sucky1984
stank1991
stanky1991
1902 Publ. Amer. Econ. Assoc. 3 151 The transfer from Africa had a strong negative effect... Yet it is easy to overestimate the completeness of this negative experience.
1951 P. D. Ouspensky Psychol. Man's Possible Evol. iv. 72 What would happen to all our life, without negative emotions?
1973 Howard Jrnl. 13 307 For many of their patients uniforms have associations with past negative experiences of authority.
1997 Critical Care Nursing Q. 20 34 The themes derived from the data stress the positive feelings of the participants when they believe they are being supported and the negative feelings when the patients believe they are not supported.
e. colloquial (originally U.S.). Preceding a forename beginning with N, forming a generic name for a person who is (habitually) negative, critical, or pessimistic. Esp. in negative Nelly and (in later use) negative Nancy.Perhaps influenced by earlier uses, Nervous Nellie n. at nervous adj. and n. Compounds 2 and Nice Nelly n.
ΚΠ
1934 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 20 Aug. (Daily Mag. section) 1/8 ‘Another beauty of not going visiting,’ observed Negative Ned, ‘is that you don't have to use those tom-thumb guest towels.’
1971 Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield, Mass.) 11 Dec. 15/6 We've been swamped in a barrage of talk about what's wrong with America, harangued by negative Nellies.
1999 Re: Did Anyone see This? in rec.arts.sf.starwars.collecting.misc (Usenet newsgroup) 13 May Be prepared for one or two ‘negative-Nancies’ to try to pick apart your post.
2015 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 7 July 5 Instead of just complaining and being negative Nellies, we've come up with positive alternatives.
f. colloquial (originally U.S. Services' slang). Designating an absolute lack of something; = no adj. 1b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > non-existence > [adjective] > no, none, or not any
nanyeOE
no (none) suchOE
noneOE
none-kinsOE
nolOE
no kina1400
zero1823
nix1846
nought1945
bugger-all1948
damn all1953
fuck-all1961
eff-all1965
zilch1969
zip1969
zippo1973
sod all1978
negative1984
1942 L. V. Berrey & M. Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §204/1 Mod[ifiers], No, negative..nix..not much.
1946 J. Irving Royal Navalese 121 Orders for a Church Parade. ‘Dress for Officers No. 3, negative swords’.
1984 Financial Times 10 Dec. 10/6 Chief executives..are guilty..of the commercial sin of non-communication. For which read negative communication and you begin to catch his drift.
1986 D. A. Dye Platoon (1987) ix. 228 Negative contact, lootenant. Can't raise Barnes or any of the squads.
2000 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 21 Sept. 95/2 The phrase ‘negative joy’ often means ‘no success’.
5. Of a quantity: less than zero; to be subtracted from another quantity, or taken as indicating a subtraction from zero; marked by the minus sign.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > mathematical number or quantity > [adjective] > prime > positive, negative, or unsigned
affirmative?1665
negative1669
negativo-affirmative1728
positive1743
signless1847
signed1871
unsigned1953
1669 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 4 905 Des Chartes..was forced to..alter the Æquations..that the sum of the Negative roots might be equal to the sum of the Affirmative ones.
1673 J. Kersey Elem. Algebra I. ii. xi. 269 A negative Root (which Cartesius calls a false Root) expresseth a quantity whose Denomination is opposite to an affirmative; as −5, or −20.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Quantity Negative, or Privative Quantities are those less than nothing.
1769 Philos. Trans. 1768 (Royal Soc.) 58 101 d + 9 = 1 cannot be; because d would be negative.
1798 C. Hutton Course Math. II. 279 Hence, too, is easily derived the fluxion of any negative integer power of a variable quantity.
1842 J. Gwilt Encycl. Archit. ii. i. 243 We immediately perceive that those powers are negative whose exponents are odd numbers.
1885 H. W. Watson & S. H. Burbury Math. Theory Electr. & Magn. I. 25 Every possible spherical harmonic function of negative integral degree.
1972 M. Kline Math. Thought ix. 185 The Hindus introduced negative numbers to represent debts.
1989 R. Penrose Emperor's New Mind (1991) ii. 49 Negative numbers and fractions..can be easily handled by Turing machines.
6.
a. Of liberty: characterized by absence of interference, obstruction, constraint, etc., esp. by the state. Cf. positive adj. 5.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > lack of subjection > freedom or liberty > freedom of action or from restraint > [adjective] > not restricted or limited
unrestrained1600
unbounded1608
undetermined1627
negative1678
irrestrictive1709
unrestricted1750
unshackled1776
wide open1858
1678 R. Barclay Apol. True Christian Divinity xiv. 348 A kind of negative liberty has been obtained, so that at present for the most part, we meet together without disturbance from the Magistrate.
1776 J. Bentham Let. 1 Apr. in Corr. (1968) I. 310 I communicated to you a kind of discovery I thought I had made, that the idea of Liberty, imported nothing in it that was positive: that it was merely a negative one: and that accordingly I defined it ‘the absence of restraint’.]
1853 N.-Y. Daily Times 12 Oct. 1/1 The only liberty allowed to those who stand upon this platform is a species of negative liberty, to wit, the liberty of holding their tongues.
1859 National Rev. Apr. Mr. Mill's essay regards ‘liberty’ from first to last in its negative rather than its positive significance.
1871 E. Mulford Nation xx. 385 The words on the lips of the Pilgrims were not of a state formed in the poor figment of the social contract, nor a condition in which there was merely a negative freedom where conscience was released from all obligation.
1904 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 10 279 It was thus that the principle of negative liberty, of non-intervention of the state, was established.
1936 Q. Jrnl. Econ. 50 360 Laski..is convinced that the negative liberty of the nineteenth century must give way to social emancipation even tho this will involve increasingly paternalistic government.
1958 I. Berlin Two Concepts Liberty 16 The ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ notions of freedom developed in divergent directions until, in the end, they came into direct conflict with each other.
1970 Ethics 80 188 The notion of negative freedom is used here..to indicate a concern with external constraints, pressures, etc.
1998 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 14 May 58/2 By negative liberty, I meant the absence of obstacles which block human action.
b. Designating a right (usually enforceable by law) guaranteeing non-interference in one's actions (esp. by the state). Also: designating a right guaranteed by custom and not formally instituted.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > branch of the law > [adjective] > common law or customary
customable?a1439
customary1552
consuetudinary1590
consuetudinal1656
negative1894
1894 F. H. Bradley in Internat. Jrnl. Ethics 4 278 The individual may be taken..to have positive and negative rights.
1926 Amer. Polit. Sci. Rev. 20 544 Negative rights, that is, rights with which government may not interfere.
1944 Public Opinion Q. 8 247 In general, rights that require the government to take certain actions are positive rights, whereas those which require the government to refrain from certain actions are negative rights. The latter are usually legally enforceable; the former are not.
1987 Time (Nexis) 6 July 95 We don't have any positive rights guaranteed by a constitution. We only have negative rights confined to what is not expressly forbidden.
7.
a. Originally (now historical): designating that form of electricity which is produced by friction upon resin, wax, rubber, etc., as distinguished from that produced by rubbed glass (cf. resinous adj. 5). Now more generally: designating electric charge having the same polarity as that electrode of a cell, battery, etc., towards which the current is held to flow (and away from which the actual flow of electrons occurs); designating the kind of electric charge associated with the electron.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > [adjective] > relating to electricity generated by friction
resinous1734
positive1747
negative1755
statical1829
static1838
triboelectric1917
1755 B. Martin Mag. Arts & Sci. 303 This positive and negative Doctrine of Electricity.
1755 B. Martin Mag. Arts & Sci. 322 What they had observed of positive and negative Electricity.
1771 J. Priestley in Philos. Trans. 1770 (Royal Soc.) 60 194 I could not find that either positive or negative electricity was communicated to the insulated tube.
1860 G. B. Prescott Electr. Telegr. 11 The one of the fluids we call positive, or vitreous electricity; the other, negative, or resinous.
1873 F. Jenkin Electr. & Magn. i. §8 It is found invariably that equal quantities of positive and negative electricity are produced.
1890 Proc. Royal Soc. 1889–90 47 543 How far the positive charges in the polarising layer and the negative charges projected away from the kathode are alone sufficient to account for the whole current, cannot be decided at present.
1925 Mem. & Proc. Manch. Literary & Philos. Soc. 69 p. xix Methyl is frequently observed in vacuum tubes with a positive charge, but never with a negative charge.
1966 C. R. Tottle Sci. Engin. Materials i. 8 The atom is then regarded as a nucleus surrounded by a cloud of negative electricity.
1974 Encycl. Brit. Macropædia VI. 666/1 The magnitude of the negative charge e was obviously of basic importance and a scale parameter for the whole of atomic physics.
1994 Sci. Amer. June 12/1 They [sc. electrons in conductors] form a sea of negative charge.
2000 Canad. Geographic July 30/3 With each pulse, a fraction of the cloud's negative charge is transferred downward and deposited along the channel of ionized air.
b. Possessing or producing negative charge.
ΚΠ
1799 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 1 55 Electricity..produces this effect particularly by what is called the negative bath.
1837 W. Whewell Hist. Inductive Sci. III. xiv. ix. 157 An alkali was separated on the negative plates.
1860 G. B. Prescott Electr. Telegr. 22 These extremities are termed poles; the former the negative, and the latter the positive pole of the pile.
1873 F. Jenkin Electr. & Magn. xxii. §3 These currents may be either positive or negative; that is to say, they may be sent from the copper or zinc pole of the battery.
1902 Nature 18 Sept. 488 The conception..that the ultimate atoms of matter involve positive and negative electrons.
1933 Discovery Mar. 69/1 The negative electron, the massless unit charge of electricity, was isolated first in the Cavendish Laboratory by Sir J. J. Thomson in 1897.
1956 Ann. Reg. 1955 402 The bevatron, at Berkeley, made possible the discovery of a new atomic particle—the negative proton.
1983 C. Ozick Cannibal Galaxy (1984) 87 She was altogether pert; her hair was electrically rectilinear, like a sheet of negative particles.
c. Chemistry. = electronegative adj. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > chemical properties > [adjective] > chemically opposed to something
negative1882
1882 Rep. Precious Metals (U.S. Bureau of Mint) 611 Iron is also negative to gold under this condition.
1922 J. J. Sudborough Bernthsen's Text-bk. Org. Chem. (new ed.) xxi. 392 This reaction proceeds more easily in the presence of negative groups, e.g. with the nitro-phenols.
1953 Science 27 Mar. 313/1 Similarly, PhAs(OCH2CH2Cl)2 yields PhAsO and CH2OHCH2Cl, and it will be noted that it is the more negative group that is lost.
d. Having the polarity of the earth's north pole; designating a south-seeking pole of a magnet.
ΚΠ
1883 Encycl. Brit. XV. 228/1 It appears therefore that in a uniform field every magnet behaves as if it were made up of a certain quantity of positive magnetism and an equal quantity of negative magnetism.
1890 Cent. Dict. at Negative Negative pole of a magnet, the south-seeking pole.
1953 Sci. News 30 83 Elemental areas of the track magnetized with positive and negative polarity represent the binary digits.
1992 S. P. Maran Astron. & Astrophysics Encycl. 630/1 The magnetic polarity (positive or negative) on the western side of the group they called preceding and that on the eastern side, following.
8.
a. Of evidence, an experiment, the results of a test, etc.: providing no support for a particular hypothesis, esp. one concerning the presence or existence of something; indicating the absence or non-existence of a specified substance, condition, etc. Hence, of the subject of a test: not exhibiting evidence of the presence of a specified substance or condition.Also used postpositively in more or less fixed collocations, e.g. antibody-, Gram-, rhesus-negative, etc.: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > testing > proof, demonstration > [adjective] > proved > not
undiscussedc1340
unproved1478
unapproved1597
negative1788
1788 J. Priestley in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 79 15 The positive evidence of actually finding a substance is always more conclusive than the negative one, of not finding it.
1837 M. Faraday in Abstr. Papers Royal Soc. 3 97 No evidence of any electrical current was obtained... The same negative result attended trials with wires of these metals, twisted together, and passed between the poles of a powerful magnetic battery.
1890 Lancet 26 Apr. 896/1 The negative result with nitric acid seemed to prove conclusively the absence of albumen.
1926 R. A. Kilduffe Man. Clin. Lab. Procedure vii. 203 In hereditary syphilis both parents may give a positive reaction or the father may be positive and the mother negative.
1952 G. H. Dury Map Interpr. xi. 98 On the O.S. topographical maps, evidence of agriculture is mostly of a negative kind.
1967 Canad. Med. Assoc. Jrnl. 97 597/1 Bladder washings after the injection of saline under pressure were negative for eggs.
1974 E. N. Chamberlain & C. Ogilvie Symptoms & Signs in Clin. Med. (ed. 9) v. 166 A green colour indicates the presence of protein. If the tip remains yellow, the test is negative.
1991 Lancet 2 Mar. 511/1 Elderly inpatients..who tested negative for Clostridium difficile toxin and other intestinal pathogens.
1999 Cosmopolitan (U.K. ed.) June 32/3 I took some home pregnancy tests, which were all negative.
b. spec. = HIV-negative adj. at HIV n. Compounds 2.
ΚΠ
1986 M. Conant in L. McKusick What to do about AIDS iii. 27 Women contemplating pregnancy need to consider whether they are positive or negative.
2017 K. T. H. Oanh et al. in A. Persson & S. D. Hughes Cross-cultural Perspectives on Couples with Mixed HIV Status 242 In addition to love and commitment, both positive and negative partners in serodiscordant relationships often also experienced a range of different fears.
9.
a. Reckoned in a direction opposite to that regarded as positive, taken as the direction of decrease or reversal; falling on the other side of the point from which the positive is measured.
ΚΠ
1817 S. T. Coleridge Biogr. Lit. (Bohn) 141 The subtraction will be the same, whether we call the capital negative debt, or the debt negative capital.
1827 J. Bentham Rationale Judicial Evid. IV. viii. iii. 61 Separated from argument, the value of such opinion will not be simply nothing, but negative.
1831 D. Brewster Treat. Optics xvii. 147 The axis is called..in the second case a negative axis of double refraction.
c1865 J. Wylde Circle of Sci. I. 79/2 The optic axes are respectively positive and negative when the extraordinary ray is bent either to or from the geometrical axis of the crystal.
1893 R. S. Ball Story of Sun 170 If the Sun's axis lie to the right..then the position angle is regarded as negative.
1977 D. M. Smith Human Geogr. viii. 221 By some definitions the USA may have already reached the point of negative returns to further increases in material affluence.
1991 Banker Sept. 25/1 Interest rates have been negative since 1965 but they were hiked up by 2% in February.
b. Opposite in orientation or direction to that regarded as positive; (Physiology) moving in a direction away from a stimulus.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > [adjective] > move in direction opposite to primary or positive
negative1831
the world > space > direction > [adjective] > having opposite direction > turned in opposite direction
obverted1664
negative1831
1831 D. Brewster Treat. Optics xxv. 215 The double refraction is negative in relation to the axes to which the doubly refracted ray is perpendicular.
1875 A. W. Bennett & W. T. T. Dyer tr. J. von Sachs Text-bk. Bot. 677 Both positive and negative heliotropism.
1879 Cassell's Techn. Educator (new ed.) IV. 313/1 Spherical aberration of a negative character.
1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXI. 518 The influence of the chemical substance is either that of attraction or repulsion, the one being known as positive, the other as negative chemotaxis.
1944 Jrnl. Meteorol. 1 3/1 We may visualize positive horizontal divergence as a horizontal spreading of air, and negative divergence..as a horizontal crowding of air.
1988 Nature 28 Apr. 862/1 Resolvase catalysed substantial relaxation of the mutant substrate into topoisomers of reduced negative superhelicity.
1999 A. O'Hagan Our Fathers (2000) iv. 153 ‘Negative geotropism,’ her father had written.
c. Tending to inhibit, diminish, or counteract something; esp. designating (elements of) a feedback process whose effects inhibit or slow down that process (see negative feedback n. at Compounds).
ΚΠ
a1832 J. Bentham Princ. Judicial Procedure i, in Wks. (1843) II. 8 The adjective branch [sc. of the law]..may be said to have two specific ends: the one positive, maximizing the execution and effect given to the substantive branch; the other negative, minimizing the evil, the hardship, in various shapes necessary to the accomplishment of the main specified end.
1865 G. Harley in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 148 720 Corrosive sublimate, while increasing the changes which develope carbonic acid, has an almost negative effect on those depending on oxidation; if anything rather diminishing them than otherwise.
1953 P. A. Merton in J. L. Malcolm & J. A. B. Gray Spinal Cord (Ciba Found. Symp.) 247 The stretch reflex is a feedback or servo loop, the feedback being negative.
1986 Electronics 20 Jan. 20 Onkyo's Birch-Jones does not think that digital audio tape products will have a negative impact on Compact Disc sales.
1988 Conservation Biol. 2 323 A different species milieu may have a large impact on both positive (e.g., mutualism) and negative (e.g., predation or competition) interactions among species.
2001 Nature 12 Apr. 824/1 Hypothalamic endocannabinoids appear to be under negative control by leptin.
10. Of a visual image, esp. a photograph: showing the lights and shades (and colour values) reversed from those of the original. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > photography > a photograph > [adjective] > showing reversed light and shade
negative1840
photonegative1983
1840 J. F. W. Herschel in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 130 3 It may be allowed me to employ the terms positive and negative, to express respectively, pictures in which the lights and shades are as in nature, or as in the original model, and in which they are the opposite, i.e. light representing shade, and shade light.
1841 W. H. F. Talbot Brit. Patent 8842 5 The portrait..is a negative one, and from this a positive copy may be obtained.
1858 O. W. Holmes Autocrat of Breakfast-table xi. 321 Books are the negative pictures of thought.
1867 A. Brothers in G. F. Chambers Descr. Astron. vii. vii. 698 The negative or positive copy having been placed the wrong way.
1889 Harper's Mag. Aug. 361/1 To artists familiar with the study of color any hope that the gradations of hues shall be retained by a negative image and communicated to a positive print seems absurd.
1951 Electronics Feb. 109/1 In color photography a technique known as ‘masking’ has been developed in which a negative image is combined with a positive image in printing, thus effectively introducing negative light in the final result.
1967 D. G. Hays Introd. Computational Linguistics iv. 67 Early photocomposition devices..used photosensitive stock and stored negative images of characters.
1991 Photographer Oct. 40/3 Granularity..is a function of the unevenness of the negative image across small sample areas.
11.
a. Of, relating to, or designating a mould or reverse impression of an object. Cf. negative n. 7b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > imitation > [adjective] > positive or negative impression of an object
negative1842
positive1911
1842 J. D. Forbes in Edinb. Rev. Apr. 62 The face of the glacier becomes precisely reversed, the mould of what it was before. The heights take the shapes of the corresponding hollows—..we have negative water-courses, negative crevasses, negative holes.
1911 G. H. Wilson Man. Dental Prosthetics ii. 55 An impression is a negative likeness of an object or part taken in a plastic material, from which a cast or positive likeness may be produced.
1939 M. Hoffman Sculpture Inside & Out xii. 214 While working, it is useful to squeeze the wax often against the negative mold, thereby verifying just what the effect will be.
1947 J. C. Rich Materials & Methods Sculpt. v. 122 Wax is rarely used as a negative material in sculpture.
1966 D. Z. Meilach Creating with Plaster iv. 58/2 Grease the negative mold very well with a separating medium.
1975 N.Y. Times 29 Nov. 19/2 The work, unusual for a cast bronze in that it has a negative impression on the back corresponding to the subject on the front, was apparently designed that way so castings could easily be made from it.
2000 Lapidary Jrnl. June 52/1 Begin by truing the 2 faces that will become the negative mold block and the backing block.
b. Sound Recording. Of the nature of or relating to a negative (negative n. 7c).
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > record > recording or reproducing sound or visual material > sound recording and reproduction > a sound recording > [adjective] > negative
negative1949
1949 J. G. Frayne & H. Wolfe Elem. Sound Recording xiv. 264 A negative matrix or ‘stamper’ must be made from the original record.
1974 Encycl. Brit. Macropædia XVII. 54/1 To make copies of the recording, dies must be made the surface of which is a negative replica of the master-record surface.
12. Theology. = apophatic adj. Also (of a theologian): taking an apophatic approach.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > theology > branches of theology > [adjective] > apophaticism
apophatic1861
negative1956
1956 V. White God the Unknown i. ii. 19 The Greeks called it apophatic theology—‘denying’ theology. St. Thomas calls it the via remotionis or the via negativa: the negative way of removing from our statements about God all that he is not.
a1963 C. S. Lewis Discarded Image (1964) iv. 70 It is the ‘negative Theology’ of those who take in a more rigid sense, and emphasise more persistently than others, the incomprehensibility of God.
1975 H. Bloom Map of Misreading i. ii. 29 Our theoretical critics have become negative theologians.
13. Virology and Molecular Biology. Designating or relating to a nucleic acid molecule, esp. viral genomic RNA, that has a base sequence complementary to that of messenger RNA; = minus adj. 1a. Esp. in negative sense, negative strand; negative-stranded adj.
ΚΠ
1966 Biochemistry 5 1609 The same procedure would also remove free RNA, replicase complexed to ‘replicative forms’ (hypothesized hydrogen-bonded duplexes composed of one viral RNA, the ‘plus strand’, and its complement, the ‘negative’ strand), or ‘negative’ strands.
1971 Virology 46 149 (title) Isolation of influenza virus ribonucleoprotein from infected cells. Demonstration of the presence of negative-stranded RNA in viral RNP.
1980 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 77 4662/1 Two different models have been proposed for the transcription of the single-stranded negative-sense genome of vesicular stomatitis virus.
1984 M. J. Taussig Processes in Pathol. & Microbiol. (ed. 2) iii. 225 Viral DNA or RNA strands can be either positive, if they have the same base sequence as mRNA, or negative if their base sequence is complementary to mRNA.
1994 Jrnl. Gen. Virol. 75 905 The encapsidated DNA strand [of chicken anaemia virus] was of negative sense.
1996 T. Clancy Executive Orders 669 It's a negative-strand RNA virus. We don't know where it lives—I mean, we know the place but not the host.
2002 Chinese Med. Jrnl. 115 1088 As the viral genome was of negative polarity, the plus-stranded fragment identified in our study might be a replicative intermediate.
B. adv.2
Negatively, in the negative, on the negative side. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > statement > negation > [adverb]
negatively?a1425
negative1642
in the negative1648
1642 E. Dering Coll. Speeches on Relig. xvi. 71 I am so fixed negative.
1897 Daily News 7 May 3/2 Twenty-five of the Senators voting negative are free silver advocates.
2001 Time 17 Dec. 16 When the AO [= Arctic Oscillation] swings negative, the circling Arctic winds weaken and cold air descends from the polar region, leading to below-normal temperatures across the hemisphere.
C. int.
Chiefly North American (originally Military). [Compare sense A. 4f.] Indicating denial, refusal, or simply that the fact is not so (in response to a question): ‘no’. Opposed to affirmative.
ΚΠ
1955 Amer. Speech 30 118 Air Force Slang... Negative.., I refuse; I disagree; no (in answer to a question). (For reasons of clarity, any negative expression is expressed over the radio as negative.)
1961 E. Waugh Unconditional Surrender i. i. 29 ‘Any result of my application for the return of my typist?’ ‘Negative,’ said Mr Oates.
1978 T. O'Brien Going after Cacciato i. 12 A radio-voice asked if gunships were needed. ‘Negative on gunships’.
2000 T. Robbins Fierce Invalids 374 Me? Double-oh seven?.. Negative, darling. I had a double-oh oh.

Compounds

negative ad n. = negative advertisement n.
ΚΠ
1978 Washington Post (Nexis) 9 Sept. c1 This week several radio stations began playing 30-second commercials for Lee that were harshly critical of his chief opponent... One such negative ad charged that..[he] attempted to raise the property tax rate.
2000 Independent 6 Nov. 13/7 But the current presidential campaign is but the tip of the negative ad iceberg. Visit any swing state and its wall-to-wall carpeting with negative advertising is clear for all to see.
negative advertisement n. an advertisement which forms part of a negative advertising campaign.
ΚΠ
1911 Francisville (Indiana) Tribune 3 Aug. 7/3 The negative advertisement and the man with a grievance get about the same attention.
1930 D. B. Lucas & C. E. Benson in Jrnl. Appl. Psychol. 14 363 (title) Some sales results for positive and negative advertisements.
1965 E. Crane Marketing Communications v. 139 The number of coupons returned for 117 pairs of positive and negative advertisements for the same product, appearing in the same periodical at about the same season, were compared.
1999 Amer. Jrnl. Polit. Sci. 43 1189 Although they found that negative advertisements do provide information to citizens, their most powerful findings were that negative commercials..demobilize the electorate.
negative advertising n. originally and chiefly North American advertising, esp. in political campaigning, which emphasizes the deficiencies of a rival product, candidate, etc., rather than commending the benefits of its own.
ΚΠ
1903 Crawford County Democrat (English, Indiana) 15 Jan. 4/3 Hundreds of people were made rich by being paid to hold their tongues. Half the newspapers in France received subsidies for this odd form of negative advertising.]
1914 Ogden (Utah) Examiner 10 Mar. 4/1 Negative advertising is unpleasant publicity, with intent to boost your own business by destroying the trade of your competitor.
1944 Life 28 Feb. 1 (advt.) Adv. experts call this ‘negative’ advertising, but it produces positive and pleasant increases in our sales.
1977 Washington Post (Nexis) 20 Oct. c1 This kind of independent negative advertising is unnecessary and counterproductive.
1994 Guardian 8 Nov. (Educ. section) 10/3 At the beginning of the senatorial campaign he pledged to spend $20 million. So far most of this has been spent on ‘negative advertising’ against Mrs Feinstein.
negative after-image n. an after-image of complementary colour or brightness to that of the original image.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > thing seen > [noun] > (retained) visual image
spectrum1786
photogene1864
negative after-image1870
incidental images1876
optogram1878
1870 S. H. Hodgson Theory of Pract. I. ii. i. §13. 92 It is not necessary..to enter upon the wide field of contrast of colours, simultaneous or successive, and the production of positive or negative after-images.
1885 Science 4 Dec. 505 A patient..made to look at a red wafer on a sheet of paper, but told that there is nothing there, will not see the wafer... As soon, however, as the wafer is blown away, he will say he sees a green spot, its negative after-image.
1967 D. A. Schreuder in J. B. de Boer Public Lighting iv. 167 Complete adaptation [to the luminance of the field of vision] requires a certain length of time. The slowest, and hence in practice the most important process is the disappearance of the negative after-images.
1983 A. O. Rorty Mind in Action (1988) 343 The simplest and most basic moves of the imagination tend to lead us to zigzag repetitive patterns, replacing negative after-images for the originals, and then doubling back to the double negative.
2010 A. Enns tr. F. Kittler Optical Media iii. 149 In contrast to Goethe's celebrated concept of the negative after-image, the positive after-image occurs when the eye continues to see an object in the same place a moment after it has already disappeared or moved away.
negative amortization n. U.S. Finance an increase in the balance of a loan which occurs when a repayment amount is less than the interest owed and the difference is added to the principal.
ΚΠ
1959 Accounting Rev. 34 193/1 We can..call the negative amortization by its common name, ‘accumulation’.
1981 Christian Sci. Monitor 26 May 16/4 James Boyle..says of negative amortization, ‘There's a very real possibility that you could pay on your mortgage for 10 years and end up owing more on it than you did when you began.’
2008 Sarasota (Florida) Herald-Tribune (Nexis) 12 Sept. a1 The negative amortization loan's principal keeps growing even though the Bohlens keep making interest payments.
negative booster n. Electrical Engineering a booster used to lower the potential of a point on an earthed return path to below earth potential.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > transmission of electricity, conduction > conductor used in transport > [noun] > wire connecting rails > booster of
negative booster1901
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical power, electricity > place of power generation > [noun] > system of conductors > negative feeder > booster for
negative booster1901
1901 Surveyor 8 Mar. 310/1 Bruce, Peebles & Co., Edinburgh.—Three steam dynamos, £7,530; negative booster, £440.
1932 R. Rawlinson in E. Molloy Pract. Electr. Engin. V. 1598/2 The negative booster is so connected as to reduce the station end of the negative feeder to below earth potential.
2008 L. Crippa et al. in R. Micheloni et al. Memories in Wireless Syst. ii. 50 To generate negative voltages, negative boosters and high-voltage triple-well transistors are needed.
negative buoyancy n. a tendency to sink as a consequence of being denser than the surrounding fluid.
ΚΠ
1874 Proc. Royal Soc. 1873–4 22 367 Some cast irons may thus float or sink in molten cast iron of different qualities from themselves through buoyancy or negative buoyancy alone.
1959 Limnol. & Oceanogr. 4 95/2 Additional negative buoyancy when under water can be obtained by valving off a small quantity of gasoline.
2002 Sunday Mail Mag. (Brisbane) (Nexis) 15 Sept. f7 The shark, however, has negative buoyancy, which means if it stops swimming forward, it will sink!
negative buoyant adj. having or associated with negative buoyancy; negatively buoyant.
ΚΠ
1986 Oil & Gas Jrnl. (Nexis) 21 July 60 Each droplet accelerates due to this negative buoyant force until the drag force on the droplet equals the buoyant force.
1993 Discover Diving Apr. 38/3 There were no suits, no BC's [buoyancy compensators], and I was negative buoyant.
1995 Science 10 Feb. 841/2 With a..less negative buoyant oceanic plate, it takes longer for the slab to penetrate into the lower mantle.
negative capability n. (Keats's term for) the ability to accept mystery and uncertainty rather than trying to rationalize it, regarded as a quality of a creative artist; (now also, more generally) empathy.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > art or occupation of writer or author > [noun] > negative capability
negative capability1817
1817 J. Keats Let. c21 Dec. (1958) I. 193 It struck me, what quality went to form a Man of Achievement especially in Literature & which Shakespeare possessed so enormously—I mean Negative Capability, that is when man is capable of being in uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts without any irritable reaching after fact & reason.
1944 M. McLuhan Let. 17 Jan. (1987) 147 I have cultivated a sort of ‘negative capability’, trying to achieve a readiness.
1964 S. Barnet et al. Dict. Lit. Terms 97 Negative capability is sometimes identified with empathy, sometimes with objectivity.
2000 Business Rev. Weekly 14 Apr. 80/1 The secrets of management success often lie in what is not said: the executive equivalent of ‘negative capability’.
negative catalysis n. Chemistry the action or effect of a substance in slowing or inhibiting a reaction without itself being consumed; an instance of this.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > chemical reactions or processes > [noun] > processes or substances affecting reactions > catalysis > negative catalysis
negative catalysis1904
1904 Jrnl. Chem. Soc. 86 ii. 113 The experiments support the view that negative catalysis consists in a counteracting of the effect of positive catalysis.
1940 S. Glasstone Text-bk. Physical Chem. xiii. 1121 Negative catalysis in gas reactions is probably also to be ascribed to the breaking of reaction chains.
1999 Structure 7 900/1 Enzymes like glutamate mutase initiate radical formation and subsequently have to prevent the highly reactive radical intermediates from entry into unwanted side reactions (‘negative catalysis’).
negative catalyst n. Chemistry a substance that slows or inhibits a reaction while remaining chemically unchanged.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > chemical reactions or processes > [noun] > processes or substances affecting reactions > catalysis > negative catalysis > negative catalyst
negative catalyst1904
1904 Jrnl. Chem. Soc. 86 ii. 113 The simultaneous effect of a positive catalyst (copper sulphate) and a negative catalyst (mannitol or stannic chloride) has been studied.
1948 S. Glasstone Textbk. Physical Chem. (ed. 2) xiii. 1126 If the reaction is hindered by the added substance it is said to be a negative catalyst, and the word catalyst, when used alone, is almost invariably taken to imply acceleration of the chemical process.
1995 Biochemistry 34 7548 In the oxidation of ACV, IPNS is a negative catalyst of cepham formation but a positive catalyst of penam formation.
negative confession n. (a) (with capital initials) a statement of principles of the Church of Scotland drawn up by John Craig in 1581, incorporated in the National Covenant of that year and in subsequent National Covenants, esp. that of 1638, and characterized by the rejection of all doctrine not in accord with the Scottish Confession of 1560 (now historical); = King's Confession n. at king n. Compounds 5b; (b) the part of the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead in which the deceased lists the wrongs he or she has not committed.
ΚΠ
1581 J. Hamilton Catholik & Facile Traictise in T. G. Law Catholic Tractates (1901) 104 Gif all the poyntis of your Negatiue Confession laitlie set furth, be expresslie writtin in the word of God, quhy haue ye not cottit the places of your bybill, quhair out thaj ar drauin.
1641 J. Maxwell Episcopacie not abivred in Scotl. vii. 63 They bring foure severall sentences out of the Abjuration or Negative Confession, falsitying and wresting them strangely.
1841 W. Osburn Antiq. of Egypt 157 The soul says.., ‘O thou that dost consume creation, I have not been drunken’. The foregoing may suffice as specimens of what has generally been termed the negative confession.
1856 W. M. Hetherington Hist. Church Scotl. 165/1 The Covenant or Confession of 1581, which, as it contained chiefly an abjuration of Popery, was often termed the Negative Confession.
1977 Ann. Rev. Ecol. & Systematics 8 257 The Negative Confession in the Egyptian Book of the Dead contains the words ‘I have not turned back water at its springtide’.
1997 E. A. Livingstone Oxf. Dict. Christian Church (ed. 3) 930/1 The ‘King's Confession’..was also known as the ‘Negative Confession’, since it denied all religion and doctrine not in accord with the Scottish Confession of 1560.
negative crystal n. (a) Optics a crystal in which the index of refraction is greater for the ordinary than the extraordinary ray; (b) Geology a cavity having the shape of a crystal within a mineral mass.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > minerals > mineral structure or appearance > [noun] > cavity
cell1665
negative crystal1831
glass-cavity1857
the world > matter > chemistry > crystallography (general) > crystal (general) > crystal types > [noun]
negative crystal1831
plastic crystal1877
liquid crystal1891
cholesteric1965
mesomorph1969
1831 D. Brewster Treat. Optics xxii. 196 Those produced by the positive crystals..though to the eye they differ in no respect from those of negative crystals, yet they possess different properties.
1839 G. Bird Elements Nat. Philos. 354 In negative crystals, as Iceland spar, the direction of these rays is reversed.
1882 A. Geikie Text-bk. Geol. 96 Such a space defined by crystallographic contours is a negative crystal.
1895 A. Harker Petrol. ii. 26 These [sc. fluid-cavities] are sometimes in the form of ‘negative crystals’, either dihexahedral pyramids or elongated prisms.
1968 I. Kostov Mineral. 500 Slavikite is trigonal, found in minute uniaxial negative crystals tabular on {0001}.
1995 Mineral. Mag. 59 5 Microinclusions with the corroded olivines generally have subspherical/ellipsoidal shapes with boundaries modified to a subplanar ‘negative crystal’-like outline.
negative definite adj. Mathematics (a) (of a function) having negative (formerly: negative or zero) values for all non-zero values of its argument; (b) (of a square matrix) having all its eigenvalues negative; (c) (of an operator on a Hilbert space) such that the inner product of any element of the space with its image under the operator is less than zero.
ΚΠ
1867 Proc. Royal Soc. 16 197 We shall..suppose that the index of inertia is at least 1, i.e. we shall exclude negative definite forms.
1905 J. Pierpont Lect. Theory Functions Real Variables I. 324 If the sign of a definite form is positive, it is called a positive definite form; if negative, it is a negative definite form... −a12x12 − … −am2xm2 is an example of a negative definite form.
1972 M. Kline Math. Thought xxxii. 799 A form is... called semidefinite if it can take on positive and negative values..and negative definite when the form is always negative or zero.
1995 Zeitschr. Angewandte Math. & Physik 46 267 Two results are obtained which state sufficient conditions for gyroscopic stabilization of conservative systems with an even dimension and a negative definite stiffness matrix.
negative equity n. Economics the potential indebtedness that occurs when the value of an asset falls below the amount of the debt outstanding on it, as when the outstanding debt on a mortgaged property exceeds the property's current market value.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > management of money > insolvency > indebtedness > [noun] > a debt > other types of debt
crown debt1641
debt of honour1646
oblata1658
judgment debt1702
bond-debt1707
rumple1746
contingent liability1798
overdraft1812
current liability1832
receivable1836
minority debt1897
negative equity1946
eligible liability1971
1850 B. C. Howard Rep. Supreme Court U.S. 8 604 There is still a further want of equity, or, more precisely speaking, a negative of equity.]
1946 Univ. Chicago Law Rev. 13 517 Depreciation deductions are disallowed during years of negative equity under the assumption that the property will not be redeemed.
1958 U.S. Tax Court Rep. 28 919 The excess of liabilities over assets at the beginning of each such year results in a ‘negative’ equity capital amount less than zero.
1976 U.S. News & World Rep. 22 Mar. 24/2 By the end of this year, we will be saddled with an estimated negative equity of 1.3 billion dollars.
1999 Times 12 May 8/5 Hundreds of thousands of people were missold personal pensions, millions more went through the heartbreak of negative equity as the economy lurched from boom to bust and interest rates went through the roof.
negative eugenics n. now historical the practice of trying to prevent the birth of children to persons considered defective or in some way unfit to be parents.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > study > [noun] > genetics > branches of
eugenics1883
thremmatology1888
negative eugenics1908
phenogenetics1928
cytogenetics1930
genetic engineering1934
radiogenetics1934
population biology1935
population genetics1938
immunogenetics1947
gengineering1985
archaeogenetics1999
1908 F. Galton in Nature 22 Oct. 645/2 Little or nothing will be said relating to what has been well termed by Dr. Saleeby ‘negative’ eugenics, namely,..hindering the marriages and the production of offspring by the exceptionally unfit.
1931 J. S. Huxley What dare I Think? iii. 93 Negative eugenics is concerned with preventing degeneration.
1974 J. R. Baker Race iv. 57 He [sc. Madison Grant] was harsh in his schemes for negative eugenics... He favoured the forcible sterilization of criminals, diseased and insane persons, and ‘worthless race-types’, and the enactment of laws against race-mixture.
negative eyepiece n. Optics an eyepiece consisting of two planoconvex lenses with their plane side towards the observer, so named because the image is formed between the two lenses; cf. Huyghenian eyepiece n. at Huyghenian adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical instruments > lens > [noun] > eye-piece
eyeglass1665
ocular1702
eyepiece1729
Ramsden1787
field glass1797
negative eyepiece1831
positive eyepiece1842
Kellner1865
orthoscopic1868
eye-point1875
comparison eyepiece1940
1831 D. Brewster Treat. Optics xliii. 361 This eyepiece is called the negative eyepiece.
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. II. 1521/1 The Huyghenian, or negative eye-piece..is the usual combination of lenses at the eye-end of a telescope or microscope.
1978 Amer. Jrnl. Bot. 65 1065 (note) The distal and proximal radii were measured on photographs taken with a ×90 objective and ×8 negative eyepiece.
negative feedback n. a reaction that tends to diminish the effectiveness of or counteract the process which gave rise to it; (in extended use) a critical or corrective response or reaction.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > answer > [noun] > information given in response > of negative kind
negative feedback1934
1934 H. S. Black in Bell Syst. Techn. Jrnl. 13 5 1/(1–μβ) will be used as a quantitative measure of the effect of feedback and the feedback referred to as positive feedback or negative feedback according as the absolute value of 1/(1–μβ) is greater or less than unity. Positive feedback increases the gain of the amplifier; negative feedback reduces it.
1956 Science 11 May 848/1 (heading) Evidence for a negative-feedback mechanism in the biosynthesis of isoleucine.
1967 J. M. Argyle Psychol. Interpersonal Behaviour iii. 62 Such unstable sequences are known as cases of ‘positive feedback’ (unstable vicious circles) and can be contrasted with self-correcting ‘negative feedback’, which is also a common feature of social performance.
1988 Sci. Amer. Feb. 53/3 Much the same negative-feedback mechanism that has helped to stabilize the earth's climate for the past 4.5 billion years would presumably operate on a planet of similar size farther from the sun.
1992 M. Medved Hollywood vs. Amer. i. i. 13 A spokesman for Jackson's production company confirmed that negative feedback was coming at them ‘from all directions’.
2003 L. Hecker & J. Wetchler Introd. Marriage & Family Therapy 47 If a couple gets into a fight, but both go to different parts of the house to cool off,..negative feedback has occurred.
negative feeder n. Electrical Engineering a feeder that connects the negative terminal of a load to the negative busbars of a power supply.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > transmission of electricity, conduction > conductor used in transport > [noun] > wire connecting rails
negative feeder1909
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical power, electricity > place of power generation > [noun] > system of conductors > negative feeder
negative feeder1909
1909 P. Dawson Electr. Traction on Railways xv. 476 The booster is usually designed so that the E.M.F. produced in the armature is sufficient to cancel out the loss of voltage in the negative feeder.
1938 A. E. Clayton Performance & Design Direct Current Machines (ed. 2) xiii. 273 As a result the booster sucks most of the current out of the rails, and causes it to return by means of the negative feeder.
negative flag n. Nautical a flag used to indicate a negative response.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > indication > signalling > visual signalling > flag signalling > [noun] > signal flag > specific
black flag1583
yellow flag1587
red flag1748
yellow jack1753
Blue Peter1754
fire flag1798
recall1832
pilot jack1848
homeward-bound pennant1853
powder flag1864
paying-off pennant1869
Peter1890
storm flag1896
negative flag1897
blackball1966
1897 Times 13 July 8/3 She was ordered..to hoist an affirmative flag if she found the enemy there and a negative flag if she did not.
1916 ‘Taffrail’ Carry On! 24 If the ‘Negative flag’, white with five black crosses, had been displayed, he would have known that the worst had happened, and that a life had been lost.
1964 Times 1 Sept. 3/4 The opening race..at Cowes was abandoned yesterday... The first marker buoy..was also being used as a turning marker by 14 warships of the Home Fleet.., and the negative flag was hoisted.
negative g n. (also negative G) a force acting in opposition to the normal force of acceleration of free fall; (also) a force acting on the human body during acceleration, esp. in flight, so as to drive body fluids towards the head.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > mechanics > force > gravity > [noun] > force equal to accelerating force > force resulting from deceleration
negative g1952
1952 R. L. Christy in C. S. White & O. O. Benson Physics & Med. Upper Atmosphere 510 Certain unusual attitudes of the aircraft in which irregular accelerations, including negative g, are encountered.
1962 J. Glenn in J. Glenn et al. Into Orbit 71 We also made runs to simulate the forces of deceleration, or negative Gs.
1970 Daily Tel. 10 July (Colour Suppl.) 25/2 With a severe bout of negative G you get a red-out, when so many vessels burst that your vision becomes crimson and you see through a haze of blood.
1995 Current Concepts on G-protection Res. & Devel. (AGARD) May 2–2/2 ‘Red-out’..has never..been experienced first hand nor have any subjects participating in negative G trials..ever reported it.
negative gearing n. Finance (a) Australian and New Zealand, the practice of borrowing money and investing it so as to make a loss that is tax deductible, esp. by investing in property that does not generate enough revenue to pay back the interest on the loan; (b) chiefly British, (in a company) a situation in which the ratio of bank borrowings to shareholders' funds is low (also called low gearing).
ΚΠ
1983 Austral. Financial Rev. 8 June 12/1 This practice of negative gearing, that is, borrowing more than can be covered from rental income after other outgoings, came under a cloud when the taxation authorities in Victoria began refusing deductions for interest payments where they considered there was negative gearing directed at subsequent capital gain.
1989 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 14 Feb. 28 Mr Whitten says Jourdan has negative gearing and plans ‘bolt-on’ acquisitions to its core businesses.
1994 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 14 Dec. 16 The group's financial position strengthened in the period with continuing high earnings enhancing the balance sheet. There was negative gearing and a healthy cash inflow at the half-year.
2001 Canberra Times (Nexis) 7 June c1 Negative gearing, salary sacrifice and setting up companies have reduced the burden on very high income earners, increasing the relative burden on the middle.
negative glow n. Physics (in a low-pressure discharge tube) a luminous region in the vicinity of the cathode, from which it may be separated by the Crookes dark space.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > discharge of electricity > [noun] > dark space at low pressure > luminous space between
negative glow1838
1838 M. Faraday in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 128 i. 138 A purple stream..appeared on the end of the positive rod,..but never joining the negative glow, there being always a short dark space between.
1939 H. J. Reich Theory & Applic. Electron Tubes xi. 369 The brightness of the negative glow decreases toward the anode, and the glow gradually merges into another relatively dark region, the Faraday dark space.
1971 J. F. Waymouth Electr. Discharge Lamps iv. 71 In the negative glow, the rate of ion production required to supply a cathode ion current of 10% of the total may be many times what it is in the positive column.
negative-going adj. increasing in magnitude in the direction of negative polarity; becoming less positive or more negative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic phenomena > processes > [adjective] > concerning input or output
push-pull1920
negative-going1947
1947 Proc. Royal Soc. A. 191 490 This [lightning] flash is of interest because the first stroke shows a positive-going, and the second a negative-going, leader.
1959 J. M. Pettit Electronic Switching v. 136 The plate waveforms in Fig. 5–15 are square waves, except for the negative-going spikes and the exponential rise.
1979 Sci. 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.
negative growth n. (a) Biology reduction in the size of an organism in response to starvation or other unfavourable conditions; (b) decline of a population, economy, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animal body > [noun] > negative growth
negative growth1926
1926 Amer. Naturalist 60 59 A positive growth increases up to a certain point..beyond which a negative growth period obtains, causing the animal to return..toward a zero size.
1957 G. E. Hutchinson Treat. Limnol. I. iii. 217 The life of such lower organisms as are capable of negative growth may be greatly prolonged.
1964 A. E. Needham Growth Process in Animals iii. 29 In the lower animals negative growth or degrowth is commonly reversible, sometimes to a remarkable degree. It is a normal response to starvation and to some other conditions.
1977 National Observer (U.S.) 8 Jan. 9/3 There is..a tendency to think of slow growth as dull, no growth as galling, and negative growth as depressing.
2001 New Straits Times (Malaysia) 19 Oct. 2/3 The continued inflow of foreign direct investments into the country's manufacturing sector even at the time when the country was registering negative growth.
negative income tax n. a scheme whereby low-paid workers receive a government subsidy to raise their pay to a fixed basic level.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > grants and allowances > [noun] > state allowance > other state benefits
maternity benefit1911
universal basic income1935
constant attendance allowance1945
death grant1946
National Assistance1948
negative income tax1950
assistance1956
supplementary benefit1966
attendance allowance1969
income support1969
mobility allowance1974
UBI1993
1950 Jrnl. Polit. Econ. 58 433 (note) This type of subsidy is, in effect, a negative income tax.
1967 Yale Law Jrnl. Nov. 1 (title) Is a negative income tax practical?
1973 Guardian 30 Mar. 6/4 The Government's proposed tax credit system—the ‘negative income tax’ proposed in a Green Paper last year.
1991 Fiscal Stud. Aug. 2 The integration of tax and social security. This goes under various labels—negative income tax, [etc.].
negative instance n. rare a non-occurrence; an example or instance of a particular event or phenomenon not occurring, or a particular fact not holding true.
ΚΠ
1663 J. Spencer Disc. Prodigies iii. 61 Now, one negative instance..is of more force to unfix..a pretending rule, then two affirmatives to establish it.
1881 G. S. Hall Aspects German Culture 230 The very possibility of unspaciality or punctuality must be inferred as negative instances from indeterminate extension and movement.
1995 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 100 1389 It is logically very difficult to define proper negative instances of phenomena such as social revolutions.
negative oath n. (a) = negative confession n. (a) (now historical); (b) (now also) a promise not to do something or to abstain from something.
ΚΠ
1646 in Hamilton Papers (1880) 62 He hath taken the Nationall Covenant before William Barton, minister of John Zacharies, the 20th of April, 1646, and the negative oath heere the 8th August, 1646.
1736 D. Neal Hist. Puritans III. viii. 428 Archbishop Usher had an Allowance of four Hundred Pounds per Annum, till he could be otherwise provided for; and was soon after allowed to be Preacher at Lincoln's Inn, only upon taking the Negative Oath.
1826 N. Amer. Rev. July 90 Grammatical constructions of this kind are..; the form of negative oaths.
1900 Dict. National Biogr. LXIII. 418/1 In 1647 he was busy in drafting..the ‘Reasons’ of the university of Oxford for disagreeing with the solemn league and covenant and the negative oath.
1953 Jrnl. Higher Educ. 24 346/1 Whereas affirmative oaths of allegiance came with the fear of Communism.., today negative oaths..become the law in state after state.
negative option n. originally and chiefly North American a clause in an (esp. mail-order) contract of sale committing the customer to the purchase of further goods or services unless some positive action is taken to cancel them.
ΚΠ
1970 Federal Reg. (U.S.) 13 May 7437/2 The Federal Trade Commission..has initiated a proceeding for the promulgation of a Trade Regulation Rule relating to the use of negative option plans by sellers in commerce.
1993 Which? Jan. 56/2 More than half of the booking forms we looked at used ‘negative option’ selling. This means you will automatically be charged for insurance when you book unless you make it clear that you don't want it by deleting a word or phrase.
2001 Toronto Sun (Electronic ed.) 22 May 42 Any service performed on a negative option contract may be difficult to cancel.
negative pedal n. Geometry the curve or surface of which a given curve or surface is the pedal (pedal n.1 8).
ΚΠ
1873 B. Williamson Elem. Treat. Differential Calculus (ed. 2) §183 If perpendiculars be drawn to the tangents to the pedal, we get a new curve called the second pedal of the original: and so on. With respect to its pedal, the original curve is styled the first negative pedal, etc.
1981 Amer. Math. Monthly 88 655 It is a pleasant exercise to verify that the negative pedal is an ellipse or hyperbola, according as S is inside or outside R.
negative phase sequence n. Electrical Engineering a three-phase system in which the voltages or currents in each phase reach their maxima in the opposite order from the standard sequence.
ΚΠ
1930 M. G. Malti Electr. Circuit Anal. xv. 244 We shall call a negative phase sequence such a sequence of the phases that phase 1 leads phase 3 by 120° and leads phase 2 by 240°.
1963 R. Hammond Mobile & Movable Cranes vi. 181 The luffing motion control equipment consists of a negative-phase sequence panel, with contactors to give plain rotor-controlled ‘luffing-in’ and ‘luffing-out’ by the unbalancing of the stator voltages of the motor through an inbuilt transformer.
negative pledge n. Banking and Finance a clause in a borrowing agreement whereby the borrower undertakes not to incur new debts or to pledge assets elsewhere without the consent of the lender; more fully negative pledge clause.
ΚΠ
1930 Amer. Jrnl. Internat. Law 24 Suppl. 128 The Reich shall undertake to assign certain revenues..for the service of such bonds. This assignment will constitute a negative pledge.
1973 ‘D. Jordan’ Nile Green xxiv. 99 The American lawyers had a query about the negative pledge clause.
1992 R. Harrington Markets & Dealers iii. 76 Some bonds are secured on the assets of the issuer..while others are unsecured but invariably carry a negative pledge to the effect that the company in question will not subsequently issue bonds which have any greater security or degree of preference.
negative–positive adj. relating to or designating a photographic process, device, etc., employing or producing both negative and positive film, or employing negative film to produce a positive image (or vice versa).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > photography > photographic processes > [adjective]
daguerreotypic1840
daguerreotypical1840
daguerreotype1841
Daguerrean1843
calotypic1854
pyro-photographic1869
autochrome1904
negative–positive1936
1936 C. E. K. Mees Photogr. 212/1 Negative–positive process, cine film.
1958 Newnes Compl. Amateur Photogr. v. 85 Negative–positive films are designed to produce colour negatives, from which colour prints can be made.
1989 U.S. Air Sept. 10/1 Talbot invented a negative–positive process of photography that made possible the duplication of prints from a single negative.
negative prescription n. Law (chiefly Scots Law) the rule of law whereby a person otherwise entitled to enforce a right in legal proceedings is debarred from doing so by reason of the length of time that has elapsed since his or her cause of action arose; equivalent to limitation of actions in English law.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > action of courts in claims or grievances > [noun] > a lawsuit > condition of being pending > limit of time for action to be raised
prescription1449
limitation1527
negative prescription1838
1838 W. Bell Dict. Law Scotl. 769 The negative prescription..not only presumes the debt to have been extinguished [etc.].
2001 Sc. Court of Session Decis. 31 Aug. CS214 The relevant prescriptive period was the short negative prescription of five years.
negative pressure n. a pressure which is lower than the prevailing pressure, esp. a pressure lower than atmospheric pressure; (also) the suction resulting from such a pressure.
ΚΠ
1875 Ladies' Repository Nov. 470 By employing a manometer, communicating with the space between the tongue and the hard palate, he finds, when the mouth is kept shut, a negative pressure, corresponding to from two to four millimeters of the mercurial column.
1939 Jrnl. Royal Aeronaut. Soc. 43 225 In the blast wave a phase of positive pressure is followed by a phase of negative pressure.
2000 Plumbing Mag. (Inst. of Plumbing) May 22/1 The suction caused by back-siphonage is limited to one atmosphere, i.e. 10m head or 1 bar and is caused by a negative pressure in the supply pipe due to excessive draw off at a low level.
negative quantity n. Mathematics a number or amount that is less than zero.
ΚΠ
1673 J. Wallis Let. 29 Mar. in S. P. Rigaud & S. J. Rigaud Corr. Sci. Men 17th Cent. (1841) (modernized text) II. 557 Not-withstanding the impossibility of..the square root of a negative quantity.
1730 Philos. Trans. 1729–30 (Royal Soc.) 36 86 By substituting a, b, c, d for e in the Quantity 4e3 − 3Ae2 + 2Be − C, it becomes alternatively a positive and a negative Quantity.
1859 B. Smith Arith. & Algebra (ed. 6) 201 The square root or even any root of a negative quantity is called an imaginary quantity.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 599/2 The principal step in the modern development of algebra was the recognition of the meaning of negative quantities.
1997 Computerworld (Nexis) 24 Feb. 30 The company found that the software that ran its site..mistakenly allowed customers to order negative quantities of books.
negative resistance n. the phenomenon or property whereby an increase in the potential difference across the terminals of certain electrical devices (e.g. an arc lamp) causes a drop in the current flowing through it.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > resistance > [noun]
resistance1746
R1842
water resistance1859
resistivity1885
skin effect1890
high-frequency resistance1892
leak1896
negative resistance1896
photoresistance1925
piezoresistance1954
piezoresistivity1958
1896 London, Edinb., & Dublin Philos. Mag. 5th Ser. 42 410 All these experiments..lead to the conclusion that the arc has a negative resistance.
1932 W. L. Everitt Communication Engin. xviii. 479 A negative resistance can be used in a circuit to counteract the effect of positive resistance and so cause a combination of inductance and capacitance to oscillate.
1990 New Scientist 28 July 68/1 Negative resistance can be achieved in electronic gyrator circuits configured so that the combination of a capacitance with a number of resistors behaves as if it were an inductor at a specific audio frequency.
negative sequence n. Electrical Engineering = negative phase sequence n.
ΚΠ
1973 J. R. Neuenswander Mod. Power Syst. ix. 175 The revolving field..rotates with the rotor while the negative-sequence armature currents..set up a revolving field rotating at the same speed but in the opposite direction to the rotor.
negative sign n. [compare German Negat-zeichen (1659 in the passage translated in quot. 1668)] the minus sign; (also, in quot. 1851) a sign attached to a consonant in the Nagari alphabet to indicate that it is not followed by a vowel.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > mathematical notation or symbol > [noun] > arithmetic or algebraic symbols > positive or negative quantities
negative sign1668
positive sign1702
sign1702
society > communication > writing > written character > [noun] > written character not a letter > diacritic > types of > in Sanskrit
negative sign1851
1668 tr. J. H. Rahn Introd. Algebra 4 The Sign for Subtraction is − i.e. Minus, or the Negative Sign [Ger. Negat-zeichen].
1743 W. Emerson Doctr. Fluxions 164 The negative Sign only shews that the Curvature increases.
1823 J. Mitchell Dict. Math. & Physical Sci. (at cited word) Negative index, of a logarithm, are those which are affected with a negative sign.
1851 Proc. Philol. Soc. 5 86 When the word closes with a consonant, there is a peculiar negative sign to be affixed to the consonant to show that no vowel follows.
1940 G. H. J. Adlam & L. S. Price Higher School Certificate Inorg. Chem. (ed. 2) xviii. 135 It is clearly not necessary to specify the base 10, and without creating much confusion the negative sign may be dropped. The index is then called the pH number.
1991 Oxf. Econ. Papers 43 231 Despite its negative sign, because of the way cu is calculated this variable raises g in all countries except the US, which it does not affect.
negative space n. Art an area of a painting, sculpture, etc., containing no contrasting shapes, figures, or colours itself, but framed by solid or positive forms, esp. one that constitutes a particularly powerful or significant part of the whole composition; also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > [noun] > a painting > part of > specific
tarage1439
field1555
sky1606
landscape1656
mass1662
incident1705
second ground1801
pick1836
negative space1949
1949 A. Berkman Art & Space 175 Space may further be described as positive space (object), and negative space (the space intervening between objects, and the space which the object occupies).
1988 19th Cent. Lit. 43 55 In the negative space between Captain Wentworth's behavior and Anne's interpretation of it we formulate meanings of our own.
1992 N.Y. Times Bk. Rev. 13 Sept. 7/3 Sex in ‘Citizen Koch’ is like the negative space in a painting to which one's eye keeps returning.
negative tax n. = negative income tax n.
ΚΠ
1891 Econ. Jrnl. 1 321 A bounty..is in Cournot's phrase a ‘negative tax’.
1963 M. S. Gordon Econ. Welfare Policies vi. 117 A few economists, appalled at the piecemeal character of our approach to welfare policies, have espoused the so-called ‘negative tax’ proposal.
1991 M. Keen Aspects of Tax Coordination in EC (IFS Working Paper W91/5) 9 State subsidies to production can be thought of as negative taxes levied on an origin basis.
negative transfer n. the transfer of effects from the learning of one skill which hinder the learning of another.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > learning > [noun] > non-transferrable skill
negative transfer1921
1921 F. N. Freeman Exper. Educ. ii. 47 There is strong negative transfer from Set 2 to Set 3.
1950 O. H. Mowrer Learning Theory & Personality Dynamics vii. 193 If ‘reinforcement’ learning were alone operative, the initial ‘mistraining’ given to the experimental-group subjects should have produced negative transfer.
1966 J. T. & K. W. Spence in C. D. Spielberger Anxiety & Behavior 303 An investigation..that involved a type of negative transfer design.
1991 Eng. World-wide 12 176 While acknowledging cases of negative transfer (i.e., interference) among Dutch students, Kellerman (1977) has emphasized that there are types of linguistic structures that students seem to regard as unlikely candidates for transfer.
negative transference n. Psychoanalysis a patient's transference of negative or hostile feelings to an analyst; a case or instance of this; also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > theory of psychoanalysis > libido > transfer of feelings > [noun] > with bad feelings
negative transference1916
1916 C. E. Long tr. C. G. Jung Coll. Papers Analyt. Psychol. ix. 270 If it is a ‘negative’ transference, you can see nothing but violent resistances which sometimes veil themselves in seemingly critical or sceptical dress.
1954 R. W. Pickford Anal. of Obsessional i. 20 A technique for manipulating the positive and negative transferences to the patient's advantage.
1964 A. Zaleznik & D. Moment Dynamics Interpersonal Behavior viii. 268 The negative transference reactions where the individual experiences hatred toward a person in the present because of a past relationship.
1991 J. Sayers Mothering Psychotherapy i. 6 Dora's negative transference was so powerful that she prematurely quit therapy.
2006 J. F. Clarkin et al. Psychotherapy for Borderline Personality 90 If positive aspects are not acknowledged, the emphasis on the negative transference may perpetuate the patient's perception of the self as totally bad.
negative vetting n. vetting carried out into an individual's general background and record in order to establish his or her suitability for an official position.Contrasted with positive vetting n. at positive adj. and n. Compounds, a more exhaustive inquiry into the character and history of candidates for positions requiring a higher level of security clearance.
ΚΠ
1954 N.Y. Times 12 Oct. 8/6 He [sc. the British Home Secretary] explained that by negative vetting he meant checking up on people by inquiring from others about them, while ‘positive vetting means that they've got to answer questions themselves, give references and so on’.
1985 Guardian (Nexis) 17 Apr. In future, ministers will have the authority to suspend from sensitive posts anyone who is..connected with..‘a subversive group’. Previously these purge procedures, known as ‘negative vetting’ were limited to Communist or Fascist groups.
1990 Independent (Nexis) 29 Jan. 7 Between 700,000 and one million posts are subject to negative vetting, which involves checking MI5, Special Branch and police records.
2015 R. H. Allen Well-respected Man ii. 31 ‘For confidential documents, one only needs Negative Vetting,’ explained Somerset. ‘We'd only need to require Positive Vetting if we were going to classify at secret or above.’
negative virtue n. an absence or lack of a vice or undesirable quality, abstention from vice; also in extended use.
ΚΠ
1703 D. Defoe Char. Dr. Samuel Annesley in True Coll. of Writing 114 His negative Vertues also have been try'd, He had no Priestcraft in him, nor no Pride; No Fraud nor Wheedling Arts to be esteem'd, But just the very Person that he seem'd.
1791 A. W. Radcliffe Romance of Forest I. v. 183 Did he think a life of mere negative virtue deserved an eternal reward? Mistaken man!
a1891 H. Melville Billy Budd x, in Wks. (1924) XIII. 45 Natural Depravity..has its certain negative virtues serving as silent auxiliaries. It is not going too far to say that it is without vices or small sins.
1996 H. W. Paul Sci., Vine, & Wine in Mod. France ix. 264 Sémichon presented this fermentation..as the magic bullet in vinification, with positive as well as negative virtues: more finesse, more fruit, more moelleux in many cases.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

negativev.

Brit. /ˈnɛɡətɪv/, U.S. /ˈnɛɡədɪv/
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: negative adj.
Etymology: < negative adj.
1.
a. transitive. U.S. To reject (a person proposed for some office). Now rare.
ΚΠ
1706 [implied in: S. Sewall Diary 6 June Instead of the Negativ'd were chosen B. Brown [etc.]. (at negatived adj.)].
1720 S. Sewall Diary 28 May (1973) II. 950 The Govr Consented to the Choice of the Councillours, having Negativ'd Col. Byfield and Dr. Clarke.
1765 T. Hutchinson Hist. Colony Massachusets-Bay, 1628–91 (ed. 2) i. 10 Disputes..caused him to insist upon his right of negativing the speaker.
1876 G. Bancroft Hist. U.S. (rev. ed.) IV. xxv. 6 Negativing six of the ablest ‘friends of the people’ in the board.
1900 Publ. Amer. Econ. Assoc. 1 54 The strained relations..were made more pronounced..by the exercise on his part of the power lodged by the charter in the governor, of negativing councillors not grateful to him.
b. transitive. Originally U.S. To veto or vote against (a bill, law, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > prohibition > prohibit [verb (transitive)] > veto > legislative or political measures
veto1706
negative1749
beveto1837
1749 in Public Rec. Colony of Connecticut (1876) IX. 453 It would..invest the Governor..with a power to negative all acts that should be passed in our Assembly.
1775 B. Franklin in E. Burke Corr. (1844) II. 28 I hear your proposed resolves were negatived by a great majority.
1783 Ld. Bulkeley Let. 18 Feb. in Duke of Buckingham Mem. Court & Cabinets George III (1853) I. 156 The Amendment in the Lords was very strong, and full of censure, and was negatived by only 14.
1834 D. Webster Speech in Senate 18 Mar. 12 We passed a bill for such a recharter, through both Houses, two years ago, but it was negatived by the President.
1882 G. Bancroft Hist. U.S. (new ed.) VI. iii. 271 Madison put forth all his strength to show that a power of negativing the improper laws of the states is the most..certain means of preserving the harmony of the system.
1977 Economist 19 Mar. 17/2 The Reduction of Redundancy Rebates Bill was negatived on second reading..by 130 votes to 129.
1991 Statute Law Rev. 12 122 The motion was deemed to be negatived if twenty or more menbers rose in their place to signify their objection.
2.
a. transitive. To reject, refuse to accept or consider (a proposal, suggestion, course of action, etc.). Also occasionally intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > statement > refusal > [verb (transitive)] > reject
awarpc1000
forwerpeOE
warpc1000
nillOE
warnc1300
reprovec1350
to put abacka1382
to throw awaya1382
repugnc1384
to put awaya1387
waivec1386
forshoota1400
disavowc1400
defyc1405
disprovec1430
repelc1443
flemea1450
to put backa1500
reject?1504
refutea1513
repulse1533
refel1548
repudiate1548
disallowa1555
project?1567
expel1575
discard1578
overrule1578
forsay1579
check1601
decard1605
dismiss1608
reprobate1609
devow1610
retorta1616
disclaimc1626
noforsootha1644
respuate1657
reluctate1668
negative1778
no-ball1862
basket1867
to set one's foot down1873
not to have any (of it, that, this)1895
to put down1944
eighty-six1959
neg1987
1778 Earl of Malmesbury Diaries & Corr. I. 194 Having..obtained..the outlines of a treaty, the negativing it..would not carry with it [etc.].
1812 Examiner 11 May 297/1 The Resolutions..were negatived without a division.
1861 Mrs. H. Wood East Lynne I. i. ix. 120 Something was said about a fly, but Miss Carlyle negatived it.
1879 E. K. Bates Egyptian Bonds I. vii. 140 O'Grady negatives the idea so decidedly that there is no appeal.
1932 D. Lindsay Devil's Tor xxvi. 374 I know that any such meeting was negatived earlier.
1975 A. Christie Curtain xiii. 137 Dr Franklin asked her if she would like the local doctor called in (violently negatived by Mrs Franklin).
1988 U. Chatterjee English, August 106 I wanted to call Sathe also, but Srivastav saab negatived quite vehemently.
b. transitive. To refuse to countenance, reject (a legal claim, etc.); to squash.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > memory > effacement, obliteration > cancellation, revocation > annul, cancel, revoke [verb (transitive)] > deprive of status, undo
undoc970
loose1340
unfoundc1430
dissolvea1513
unconfirm1551
disestablish1598
untie1609
discribe1647
unestablish1649
unappoint1682
negative1793
uncollegiate1851
1793 C. Durnford & E. H. East Rep. Cases King's Bench 4 485 The defendant relied on this,..that his election was made by a homage consisting of twenty-three free tenants, and the jury have expressly negatived that twenty-one of them were of that description.
1827 T. Jarman Powell's Ess. Learning of Devises (ed. 3) II. 89 Claim of the heir negatived in Noel v. Lord Henley.
a1834 S. T. Coleridge Specimens of Table Talk (1835) II. 234 Taxation..implies compact, and negatives any right to plunder.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 113/2 The presumption of a child's legitimacy is negatived if it be proved that a husband has not had access to his wife within such a period of time as would admit of his being the father.
1991 W. V. H. Rogers Tort (BNC) 473 The jury negatived negligence and found that there was contributory negligence on the plaintiffs' part.
3.
a. transitive. To deny, contradict, or countermand; to negate.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > statement > denial or contradiction > deny or contradict [verb (transitive)]
withquethec888
withsake971
falsea1225
withsay?c1225
denyc1300
again-saya1382
naitc1390
nitec1390
naya1400
nicka1400
warna1400
denytec1420
traversea1450
repugnc1456
unsayc1460
renay1512
disavow?1532
disaffirm1548
contradict1582
fault1585
belie1587
infringe1590
dementie1594
abnegate1616
negate1623
nege1624
abrenounce1656
nay-saya1774
negative1784
dement1884
1784 E. Allen Reason x. §1. 347 Affirmed to have an existence by the three first propositions, by the fourth they are negatived.
1812 Examiner 7 Sept. 570/2 An affidavit..negativing the keeping..any horse..by Mr. Weddall.
1884 Law Times Rep. 50 177/2 An affidavit categorically negativing the statements in the libel.
1924 William & Mary Coll. Q. Hist. Mag. 4 103 It is extremely doubtful whether ships of any burden ever came up..to the wharves.., the natural surroundings negativing that there was ever sufficient depth of water there.
1972 Police Rev. 10 Nov. 1463/1 Will the plate..negative the need to undergo an examination for a ministry plate?
1982 Financial Times 15 June 11/7 In the present case, section 18 negatived the existence of any contract.
1992 Weekly Law Rep. 18 Dec. 1101 Parker L. J. rightly observed that the insurers' main arguments were negatived by Lawrence.
b. transitive. To disprove; to show to be false.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > testing > refutation, disproof > refute, disprove [verb (transitive)] > by proving error or weakness
reprovea1398
falsifyc1449
enervate1565
convince1583
disprove1584
imposture1622
distest1647
disauthenticate1658
convict1717
negative1790
unsubstantiate1799
to show up1893
1790 W. Paley Horæ Paulinæ i. 6 By ancient testimony..they are negatived and excluded.
1836–41 W. T. Brande Man. Chem. (ed. 5) 158 The inference..is negatived, in regard to mercury at least, by substituting that metal for the cold water.
1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. 381 All our reasonings seemed to be negatived by the results.
1885 Law Times Rep. 52 625/1 A plaintiff..must also negative contributory negligence in himself.
1986 Stone's Justices' Man. (ed. 118) I. 371 Parties to crimes, identical in type to the offence charged, evidence of which has been admitted as proving system and intent and negativing accident.
4. transitive. To render ineffective; to neutralize; to cancel out.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > memory > effacement, obliteration > cancellation, revocation > annul, cancel, revoke [verb (transitive)] > make void or invalid
wanea889
voida1340
avoidc1375
abolishc1475
disnull1509
disannula1513
annihilate1525
evacuate1526
aniente1528
extinct1530
disable1548
extinguish1548
solute1550
destitutea1563
exinanitea1575
cashier1596
devoid1601
shorta1616
supersede1618
vitiate1627
invalidate1649
out1653
vacate1662
exinanitiate1698
atheticize1701
squasha1777
invalid1827
negate1837
negative1837
unsanction1854
cancel-
1837 J. Pardoe City of Sultan (1855) 225 The next eruption may lay waste his lands, and negative his labour.
1882 Daily Tel. 16 Sept. (Cassell) The wash..was happily negatived by the inert hull of the..barge.
1955 Times 28 June 8/6 The method which both sides are using to negative the effects of atomic attack is the widest possible measure of dispersal.
1973 Times 25 Jan. 23/6 Once the initial reaction is completed, would-be vendors inevitably raise selling prices to negative the effect of the tax.
†5. transitive. To reproduce as a photographic negative. Obsolete.Apparently an isolated use.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > photography > action of taking photograph > photograph [verb (transitive)] > take negative of
negative1894
1894 G. A. Sala London up to Date ii. 17 I doubt whether any male creature..would care much about being focussed, negatived, and positived in that apparel.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

† negativeadv.1

Forms: pre-1700 nagatiue, pre-1700 negatiue, pre-1700 1700s–1800s negative.
Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymon: Latin negative.
Etymology: < post-classical Latin negative negatively, in the negative (6th cent.) < classical Latin negātīvus negative adj. + -ē, suffix forming adverbs.
Scots Law. Obsolete.
Negatively, in the negative, on the negative side.
ΚΠ
1532 in J. M. Webster & A. A. M. Duncan Regality of Dunfermline Court Bk. (1953) 63 The quhilk assis wald nocht..deliuer nowthir affirmative nor negative.
1625 in W. Cramond Extracts Rec. Synod of Moray (1906) 10 Alexr. Thomsone being demanded if [etc.]..ansuered negative.
1673 in M. Wood Extracts Rec. Burgh Edinb. (1950) X. 156 Baillie Learmont..votted negative.
1753 Scots Mag. July 349 And being interrogate for the pannel..depones negative.
1868 J. Maidment Bk. Sc. Pasquils 238 This cherub..swore negative.., much to the astonishment of Fountainhall.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
<
n.c1400adj.adv.2int.c1460v.1706adv.11532
随便看

　

英语词典包含1132095条英英释义在线翻译词条，基本涵盖了全部常用单词的英英翻译及用法，是英语学习的有利工具。

　

Copyright © 2004-2022 Newdu.com All Rights Reserved
更新时间：2024/11/10 19:44:24