Search results for 'negative':

negative adj 1 meaning or saying 'no'; expressing denial, refusal or prohibition. Opposite of affirmative. 2 said of people or attitudes, etc: unenthusiastic, defeatist or pessimistic. 3 logic denying the connection between a subject and a predicate. 4 math less than zero. 5 contrary to, or cancelling the effect of, whatever is regarded as positive. 6 math measured in the opposite direction to that chosen as positive. 7 elec having the kind of electric charge produced by an excess of electrons. 8 photog said of film: having the light and shade of the actual image reversed, or complementary colours in place of actual ones. 9 biol in a direction away from the source of stimulus. noun 1 a word, statement or grammatical form expressing denial • replied in the negative. 2 a photographic film with a negative image, from which prints are made. verb (negatived, negativing) 1 to reject something; to veto it. 2 to deny something. 3 to neutralize or cancel out something. 4 to disprove or prove the contrary of positive or affirmative. Compare positive. negatively adverb. negativeness or negativity noun.
ETYMOLOGY: 16c: from Latin negativus, from negare to deny.