▪ I. negative, n.
(ˈnɛgətɪv)
Also 4 -ife, -yfe.
[f. next, or a. F. négative (13th c.).]
I. † 1. a. A negative command, a prohibition.
| c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 234 O if God so scharply biddes þese negatifes.., who are more heretikes þen þese þat done hit ageynes hym? 1581 W. Charke in Confer. iv. (1584) Ee iv b, The text Deut. 6. hath the negatiue, Thou shalt serue no strange gods. |
b. A negative statement or proposition; a negative mode of stating anything.
| 1567 Jewel Def. Apol. v. xv. §1. 579 By a like Negative Chrysostome saithe,..‘This tree neither..Paule planted.., nor God encreased’. 1581 W. Charke in Confer. iv. (1584) Ee j b, Your affirmatiue is contrarie to the holy Ghostes..negatiue, Not of workes. 1628 T. Spencer Logick 177 The first, is an vniversall affirmatiue. The third, is a particular negatiue. 1658 Bramhall Consecr. Bps. vii. 155 First to accuse us of Forgery, and then to put us to prove a Negative. 1736 Gray Let. in Poems (1775) 7 Almost all the employment of my hours may be best explained by negatives. 1771 Junius, Lett. xliv. (1788) 252 I am not bound to prove a negative. 1856 R. A. Vaughan Mystics (1860) I. 12 Almost all we are in a position to say, concerning spiritual influence, consists of negatives. 1876 Tait Rec. Adv. Phys. Sci. iii. (ed. 2) 69 The consequent establishment of a definite and scientifically useful negative. |
c. A negative reply or answer;
† a denial or refusal.
negative pregnant: see
pregnant.
| 1571 Campion Hist. Irel. ii. ix. (1633) 113 Who was the messenger? where are the letters? convince my negative. 1634 W. Wood New Eng. Prosp. (1865) 61 A false asseveration usually winneth more beleefe than two verifying negatives can resettle. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1811) I. ii. 12 Such-like consenting negatives. 1784 Cowper Ep. J. Hill 22 Dreading a negative, and overawed Lest he should trespass. 1802 Playfair Illustr. Hutton. The. 516 Appearances that give the most direct negative to the Neptunian system. 1891 T. Hardy Tess liii, He asked his father if she had applied for any money during his absence. His father returned a negative. |
d. Used
quasi-advb.,
orig. in radio communication,
= no adv.3 colloq. Quot. 1946 perhaps illustrates sense 2 a of the
adj.| [1946 J. Irving Royal Navalese 121 Orders for a Church Parade ‘Dress for Officers No. 3, negative swords’.] 1955 Amer. Speech XXX. 118 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. 1972 C. Kearey Last Plane from Uli vii. 81 ‘Any snags, Captain?’ ‘Negative, she's running like a clock.’ 1972 P. Cleife Slick & Dead ix. 69, I shook my head. ‘Negative,’ I said. |
2. A negative word or particle; a negative term.
| ? a 1580 in Lyly's Wks. (1902) III. 462 In womens mouthes in case of loue no, no negatiue will proue. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. v. i. 24 If your foure negatiues make your two affirmatiues, why then the worse for my friends. 1641 W. Cartwright Lady-Errant i. ii, Because two Negatives make an Affirmative. 1711 J. Greenwood Eng. Gram. 160 Two Negatives, or two Adverbs of Denying do in English affirm. 1827 Gentl. Mag. XCVII. i. 498 Double negatives were commonly used to strengthen the negation in the time of Shakespeare. 1844 Dickens Mart. Chuz. xi, The remark was rendered somewhat obscure..by reason..of a redundancy of negatives. 1870 Jevons Elem. Logic iii. 22 Negatives signify the absence of the same qualities. |
3. a. The right to refuse consent to a proposed measure; a right of veto. Now
rare or
Obs.| 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage v. xv. 445 The meanest person amongst them hauing a Negatiue in all their consultations. 1672 Petty Pol. Anat. (1691) 36 The Parliament..have a Negative upon any Law that the Lord Lieutenant and Councel shall offer to the King. 1765 Blackstone Comm. I. 156 We may apply to the royal negative..what Cicero observes of the negative of the Roman tribunes. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 505 Each branch of the legislature has a negative upon the other. |
† b. A negative or adverse vote.
Obs.| 1654 Clarke Papers (Camden) III. 11 The most part of the last weeke was spent about the qualifications of Electors..and many negatives passed upon them. 1683 Temple Mem. Wks. 1720 I. 462 The House of Commons pass'd another Negative upon the Debate for Money. 1708 Kennett in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. IV. 256 A Majority of the Aldermen..put a negative upon the motion for printing his sermon. 1743 Pitt in Almon Anecd. (1792) l. v. 131 If we put a negative upon this question, it may awaken our ministers out of their deceitful dream. |
4. the negative:
a. The side, position, or aspect of a question, which is opposed to the affirmative or positive.
| 1579 W. Wilkinson Confut. Fam. Love 5 b, Our Papistes, which can not abide an Argument drawen from the Negative. 1614 Raleigh Hist. World ii. (1634) 486 Whether Nebonassar were an Astrologer or no, I cannot tell; it is hard to mainteine the negative. 1656 Earl of Monmouth tr. Boccalini's Advts. fr. Parnass. 356 The Negative to this was often broacht, and disputed. 1754 Edwards Freed. Will i. i. 3 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 vi. (1866) 99 Let the negative have its positive. |
† b. The capacity of refusal.
Obs. rare—1.
| 1632 J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 94 Full little was he as yet aware of that the negative might have place in a courteous Lady. |
5. in the negative:
† a. In the face
of, in opposition to, something.
Obs. rare—1.
| 1598 J. Manwood Lawes Forest xxiii. §3 (1615) 219 Although that this Statute of Charta de Foresta were made in the negatiue of the Law and vsage that was before. |
† b. On the negative side of a question.
Obs.| 1634 Rainbow Labour (1635) 7 In the Negative, the inconvenience of the Obiect must deterre us. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. i. vii. (1686) 20 A Testimony is of no illation in the Negative. 1697 W. Dampier Voy. round World (1699) 485 After all, I will not be peremptory in the Negative. |
c. On the side of, in favour of, or with the effect of, rejecting a proposal or suggestion.
| 1650 R. Stapylton Strada's Low C. Wars v. 109 It was carried by most voices in the negative. 1654 Nicholas Papers (Camden) 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. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. V. 144 The majority of votes carryed it in the negative. 1750 Beawes Lex Mercat. (1752) 53 It was resolved in the Negative. 1803 Wellington in Gurw. Desp. (1837) II. 321 If that should be determined in the negative. |
d. With denial or negation; negatively; of a negative character.
| 1648 Nethersole Proj. 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 Burke Vind. Nat. Soc. Wks. I. 65 The grave doctor answers me in the affirmative; the reverent sergeant replies in the negative. 1871 H. Ainsworth Tower Hill i. iv, Cromwell replied in the negative. 1875 Scrivener Lect. Text N. Test. 7 The answer might well be looked for in the negative. |
† 6. a. One who takes the negative side.
Obs.| 1649 Bounds Publ. Obed. (1650) 10 Nothing ought in this case to be concluded against the negatives, though fewer in number. 1673 Essex Papers (Camden) I. 160 After great contest, there were no other Negatives but these two. |
† b. A negative heretic (see
quot.).
Obs. rare.
| 1731 Chandler tr. Limborch's Hist. Inquis. 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. 7. a. The opposite or negation
of something.
rare.
| 1387–8 T. Usk Test. Love iii. ii. (Skeat) l. 92 Badde is nothing els but absence or negative of good, as derkenesse is absence or negative of light. 1882 Spurgeon Treas. Dav. Ps. cxix. 19 As the one prays to see, the other deprecates the negative of seeing. |
b. A negative quality or characteristic.
| 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. ii. §25 Which good qualifications were allayed by another negative, he did love nobody else. 1770 Junius Lett. xxxvi. (1788) 196 You have now added the last negative to your character. |
c. Alg. A negative quantity.
| 1706 W. Jones Syn. Palmar. Matheseos 35 To Add a Negative, is to take away a Positive. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v. Negative sign, The square root of a negative implies an imaginary quantity. |
d. One devoid
of some quality.
rare—1.
| 1813 Examiner 1 Feb. 73/2 Those negatives of feeling and thought who..call themselves people of fashion. |
e. Austral. A shaft yielding no gold.
| 1864 J. Rogers New Rush, Miner's Melody 56 So we'll laugh at all negatives And on high our anchor cast. |
8. a. Photogr. A print made on specially prepared glass or other transparent substance by the direct action of light, in which the lights and shadows of nature are reversed, and from which positive prints are made.
| 1853 W. H. T. Photogr. Manip. (ed. 2) 14 Fifth operation. Fixing the negative. 1859 Jephson & Reeve Brittany 88 We were only making what were called negatives on glass. 1867 Brothers in G. F. Chambers Astron. 698 From the small negative a positive on glass must be made. |
| fig. 1892 Stevenson & L. Osbourne Wrecker x. 162 A negative of a street scene..rose in my memory with not a feature blurred. |
| attrib. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 1521/1 Negative-bath, the bath-holder..used to contain the nitrate of silver solution. 1884 Ibid. Suppl. 632/2 Negative Rack, a frame for holding glass negatives to drip. 1889 Anthony's Photogr. Bull. II. 24 A large negative closet off the studio. |
b. A mould for, or reverse impression of, a piece of sculpture or the like.
Cf. next, sense 11 a.
| 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 Sculpture i. 18 The ‘negative’ is the term applied to the hollow containing form or mold into which the positive, temporarily plastic casting material is poured. Ibid. 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. A disc similar to a gramophone record but having ridges in place of grooves.
| 1918 H. Seymour Reproduction of 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. |
9. The negative plate or metal in a voltaic battery.
| 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 368 Negative depolarized by jet of steam. Ibid. 369 Negative rotated by a crank. |
▪ II. negative, a. (
ˈnɛgətɪv)
Also 5
-yff, 6
-yfe,
-yve.
[ad. F. negatif, -ive, (13th c.), or late L. negātīv-us: see negate v. and -ive.] I. † 1. Of persons: Making denial of something.
Obs. rare.
| c 1400 Beryn 2068 And he had mysseyd onys, or els I-seyd nay,..then he had been negatyff. Ibid. 2606 To ȝew that were negatyff, the lawe wold graunte anoon. 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. i. ii. 274 If thou wilt confesse, or else be impudently negatiue, To haue nor Eyes nor Eares nor Thought. 1736 Chandler Hist. Persec. 208 Negative hereticks are such, who being..convicted of some heresy before an Inquisitor, yet will not confess it. |
2. a. Expressing, conveying, or implying negation or denial.
negative flag (see
quots.).
| 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xxxiv. (Percy Soc.) 110 By the comyn wytte to be affyrmatyve Or by decernynge to be negatyve. 1571 Golding Calvin on Ps. vii. 5 So must the negatyve woord (not) bee supplyed. 1579 Fulke Heskins' Parl. 89 Hee did..beate doune the proclaymers negatiue argumentes. 1649 Nicholas Papers (Camden) I. 146 There are two negative conclusions which seeme necessary. 1670 Clarendon Dial. Tracts (1727) 333, I long to see a good negative Catechism of religion. 1791 Burke App. Whigs Wks. VI. 186 Their negative declaration obliges me to have recourse to the books which contain positive doctrines. 1803 J. Marshall Const. Opin. (1839) 22 Affirmative words are often..negative of other objects than those affirmed. 1850 Grote Greece ii. lxviii. (1862) VI. 138 It is by Plato that the negative and indirect vein of Sokratês has been worked out. 1891 Ld. Coleridge in Law Times Rep. LXV. 581/1 The negative statement that the 6 Geo. 4, c. 129, is not now on this subject the governing statute. 1909 Daily Chron. 18 Aug. 7/5 If it is hoisted superior to the flag called the Negative flag, it signifies that the man is drowned. 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. 1948 R. de Kerchove Internat. Maritime Dict. 487/1 Negative flag, a single-letter signal consisting of letter ‘N’ of the International Code of signals. Means ‘No’. |
b. spec. in
Logic, of propositions, etc., or names.
| 1551 T. Wilson Logike (1580) 24 If one of the Propositions be particular, or negatiue, the conclusion is particular, or negatiue. 1628 T. Spencer Logick 92 In this Chapter..wee must handle negatiue contraries. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. i. iv. 16 Names, called Negative; which are notes to signifie that a word is not the name of the thing in question. 1690 Locke Hum. Und. ii. viii. §5 We have negative Names, which stand not directly for positive Ideas, but for their Absence, such as Insipid, Silence, Nihil, etc. 1725 Watts Logic iii. i, The Foundations of all negative Conclusions. 1846 Mill Logic 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 Jevons Elem. Logic vii. 63 A negative proposition..asserts a difference or discrepancy. |
3. a. Of commands, statutes, etc.: Prohibitory.
| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 238 b, All the commaundementes of the seconde table, that be negatyue. 1596 Bacon Max. & Use Com. Law ii. (1635) 14 But the Statute of Mag. Char. Cap. ii. 5 is negative against it. a 1711 Ken Divine Love Wks. (1838) 261 Keep my love watchful.., that in thy negative precepts I may continually resist evil. 1765 Blackstone Comm. I. i. 137 A few negative statutes, whereby abuses, perversions, or delays of justice..are restrained. |
b. Expressing refusal to do something; refusing consent to a proposal or motion.
| 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 592 Malcolme..Wald nocht consent,..And gaif to him ane ansuer negatiue. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 194 They..yealded to his request, notwithstanding my negatiue voyce. 1621 T. Williamson tr. Goulart's Wise Vieillard 56 Hee gaue his negatiue voyce and crossed the treatie of a dishonourable peace. 1681 H. Nevile Plato Rediv. 125 But for this point of the Negative Vote, it is possible [etc.]. |
c. Able to impose a veto. Now
rare.
| 1648–9 Eikon Bas. vi. (1662) 20 Denying me any power of a Negative voice as King. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 287 ¶5, I do not find that the Consuls had ever a Negative Voice in the passing of a Law. 1775 De Lolme Eng. Const. ii. xvii. (1784) 263 To make use, even once, of its negative voice. |
d. quasi-adv. Negatively, on the negative side.
| 1868 Maidment Bk. Sc. Pasquils 238 This cherub..swore negative.., much to the astonishment of Fountainhall. 1897 Daily News 7 May 3/2 Twenty-five of the Senators voting negative are free silver advocates. |
† 4. Opposed (
to a measure).
Obs. rare.
| 1642 Sir E. Dering Sp. on Relig. xvi. 71, I am so fixed negative. Ibid. 88 That I may as negative to this bill, be poasted up [etc.]. |
II. 5. Characterized by the absence, instead of the presence, of distinguishing features; devoid of, or lacking in, distinctly positive attributes.
In very common use in the 19th century.
| 1565 T. Stapleton Fortr. Faith 103*, I will not labour to recite euery particular of their negatiue religion. 1642 in Clarendon Hist. Reb. v. §49 His discharge was but negative. 1647 Clarendon ibid. ii. §25 A man who..was thought to be made choice of only for his negative qualities. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. 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. 1788 Priestley in Phil. Trans. LXXIX. 15 The positive evidence of actually finding a substance is always more conclusive than the negative one, of not finding it. 1801 Fuseli in Lect. Paint. ii. (1848) 383 He contented himself with a negative colour. 1838 W. Bell Dict. Law Scot. 769 The negative prescription..not only presumes the debt to have been extinguished [etc.]. 1873 Spencer Stud. Sociol. x. 259 These negative causes of dissatisfaction are joined with the positive cause indicated. |
6. a. In
Algebra, denoting quantities which are to be subtracted from other quantities, or which are taken as indicating a subtraction from zero; marked by the sign -.
| 1673 Kersey Algebra I. 269 A negative Root (which Cartesius calls a false Root) expresseth a Quantity whose Denomination is opposite to an affirmative, as -5 or -20. 1727–38 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Quantity, Negative or privative quantities are those less than nothing. 1753 Ibid., Supp. s.v., Negative powers arise from the division of any power of a quantity, by a greater power of the same quantity. 1768 Horsefall in Phil. Trans. LVIII. 101, d + 9 = 1 cannot be; because d would be negative. 1798 Hutton Course Math. (1807) II. 282 The fluxion of any negative integer power of a variable quantity. 1842 Gwilt Archit. §611 We immediately perceive that those powers are negative whose exponents are odd numbers. 1885 Watson & Burbury Math. The. Electr. & Magn. I. 25 Every possible spherical harmonic function of negative integral degree. |
b. negative sign, the sign - used to mark a negative quantity. Also applied to a sign used in the Sanskrit alphabet (see
quot. 1851).
| 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Negative Quantities in Algebra, are such as have before them the Negative Sign. 1743 Emerson Fluxions 164 The negative Sign only shews that the Curvature increases. 1823 Mitchell Dict. Math. & Phys. Sci., Negative index, of a logarithm, are those which are affected with a negative sign. 1851 Proc. Philol. Soc. V. 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. |
7. a. Applied to that form of electricity which is produced by friction upon resin, wax, gutta-percha or similar substances, as distinguished from that produced by rubbed glass, which is called
positive.
| 1755 B. Martin Mag. Arts & Sci. 322 What they had observed of positive and negative Electricity. 1770 Priestley in Phil. Trans. LX. 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. |
| transf. 1755 B. Martin Mag. Arts & Sci. 303 This positive and negative Doctrine of Electricity. |
b. Characterized by the presence or production of negative electricity.
negative booster, a booster used to lower the potential of the station end of a negative feeder to below earth potential;
negative feeder, a wire which connects the rails forming the negative connection for an electric traction vehicle to the bus-bars at a substation.
| 1799 Med. Jrnl. I. 55 Electricity..produces this effect particularly by what is called the negative bath. 1837 Whewell Hist. Induct. Sci. (1857) III. 137 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. 1890 Proc. R. Soc. XLVII. 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. 1902 Negative electron [see electron2 1 a]. 1909 P. Dawson Electr. Traction on Railways xv. 475 The negative booster consists simply of a rotating machine driven at a constant speed by an independent motor. Ibid. 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. 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. 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. 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. |
c. Chemically opposed
to something.
| 1882 Rep. to Ho. Repr. Prec. Met. U.S. 611 Iron is also negative to gold under this condition. |
d. negative glow, the luminous region in a discharge tube between the Crookes dark space and the Faraday dark space.
| 1890 Proc. R. Soc. XLVII. 557 This is the dark interval separating the positive part of the discharge from the negative glow. 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. |
8. a. Reckoned in an opposite direction to the positive; falling on the other side of the point from which the positive is measured.
| 1802–12 Bentham Ration. Judic. Evid. (1827) IV. 61 Separated from argument, the value of such opinion will not simply be nothing, but negative. 1817 Coleridge Biog. Lit. (Bohn) 141 The subtraction will be the same, whether we call the capital negative debt, or the debt negative capital. 1831 Brewster Optics xvii. 147 The axis is called..in the second case a negative axis of double refraction. c 1865 J. Wylde in Circ. 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 Sir R. Ball Story of Sun 170 If the Sun's axis lie to the right..then the position angle is regarded as negative. |
b. Proceeding or tending in an opposite direction to that regarded as positive.
| 1831 Brewster Optics xxv. 215 The double refraction is negative in relation to the axes to which the doubly refracted ray is perpendicular. 1875 Bennett & Dyer tr. Sachs' Bot. 677 Both positive and negative heliotropism. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 313/1 Spherical aberration of a negative character. |
c. Misc. special collocations:
negative capability (see
quot. 1817); now also used (in the light of Keats's other observations on the nature of the creative artist) for
empathy;
negative catalysis (
Chem.)
= inhibition 3 b;
negative catalyst = inhibitor 2 c;
negative eugenics, an attempt to prevent the birth of children to persons considered unfit to be parents;
cf. dysgenic a.;
negative feedback, feedback that tends to diminish or counteract the process giving rise to it;
negative g or
negativ G, (a force resulting from) the deceleration of a vehicle,
esp. an aircraft or spacecraft;
negative growth, the cessation or reversal of growth,
esp. in lower animals, in response to starvation or other unfavourable conditions;
negative income tax, a scheme whereby low-paid workers receive a government subsidy to raise their pay to subsistence level; also
negative tax;
negative (phase) sequence (
Electr. Engin.), a three-phase system in which the voltages or currents in each phase reach their maxima in the opposite order (
i.e. red—blue—yellow) from the positive sequence;
negative resistance, (the property of) a device in which an increase in the potential difference between its terminals causes a drop in the current flowing through it;
negative transfer, habits or methods learned for one task which interfere with or transfer negatively to the learning of a subsequent task;
cf. transfer n. 3,
positive a. 8;
negative transference, the transfer or imputing to a doctor of feelings of hostility, or of resistance and constraint, that may be aroused in the patient through fear of giving expression to his repressed emotions; also, the transferring to a relationship of negative emotions which persist from a previous relationship or experience;
cf. transference 1,
positive a. 8.
| 1817 Keats Let. c 21 Dec. (1958) I. 193, I had not a dispute but a disquisition, with Dilke, on various subjects; several things dovetailed in my mind, & at once 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—Coleridge, for instance, would let go by a fine isolated verisimilitude caught from the Penetralium of mystery, from being incapable of remaining content with half knowledge. 1964 S. Barnet et al. Dict. Literary Terms 97 Negative capability is sometimes identified with empathy, sometimes with objectivity. 1975 Studies in Eng. Lit.: Eng. Number (Tokyo) 167 The poem is representative of the poet [sc. Wallace Stevens] in that it is a poem of ‘Negative Capability’, his basic mental attitude. |
| 1904 Jrnl. Chem. Soc. LXXXVI. ii. 113 The simultaneous effect of a positive catalyst (copper sulphate) and a negative catalyst (mannitol or stannic chloride) has been studied, and the experiments support the view that negative catalysis consists in a counteracting of the effect of positive catalysis. 1940 Glasstone Text-bk. Physical Chem. xiii. 1121 Negative catalysis in gas reactions is probably also to be ascribed to the breaking of reaction chains. 1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. II. 546/2 Such substances, formerly called negative catalysts, are now known to be consumed in the process... Accordingly such materials are not true catalysts. 1968 M. M. Jones Ligand Reactivity & Catalysis i. 10 Negative catalysis resulting from the removal of catalytically active metals by a chelating agent, for example, the inhibition of hemoglobin by carbon monoxide. |
| 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. 1914 C. W. Saleeby Progress Eugenics i. 20 It is no less necessary to discourage parenthood among defective individuals, and to this, with Galton's approval, I gave the name of negative eugenics, calling his own scheme positive eugenics. 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. |
| 1934 H. S. Black in Bell Syst. Techn. Jrnl. XIII. 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. 1966 ‘A. Hall’ 9th Directive x. 97, I put in fifty or sixty shots,..gradually allowing the negative feedback data to correct the aim. 1967 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. |
| 1952 R. L. Christy in White & Benson Physics & Med. Upper Atmosphere 510 Certain unusual attitudes of the aircraft in which irregular accelerations, including negative g, are encountered. 1955 Aeroplane 25 Nov. 794/1 The need for a negative-g stressing case for civil aircraft was questioned. 1962 J. Glenn in Into Orbit 71 We also made runs to simulate the forces of deceleration, or negative Gs. |
| 1932 J. S. Huxley Probl. Relative Growth iii. 87 Here [sc. in the shore crab Ocypoda] the low point of growth, or ‘negative growth-centre’, is also in the merus. 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. |
| 1967 Yale Law Jrnl. Nov. 1 (title) Is a negative income tax practical? 1969 Daily Tel. 17 Jan. 27/1 The use of ‘negative income tax’, by which low-wage earners receive a PAYE handout. 1973 Guardian 30 Mar. 6/4 The Government's proposed tax credit system—the ‘negative income tax’ proposed in a Green Paper last year. |
| 1930 M. G. Malti Electr. Circuit Analysis 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°. |
| 1896 Frith & Rodgers in Phil. Mag. XLII. 410 [Prof. Ayrton concluded that if an attempt were made to measure the resistance of the arc by altering the P.D. between the carbons and finding the corresponding alteration of current produced, the resistance found by taking this ratio must be negative.] Ibid., 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. 1942 C. L. Amick Fluorescent Lighting Manual ii. 21 The ‘negative-resistance’ characteristic of fluorescent lamps means that the voltage drop across the lamp decreases as the arc current goes up. 1974 G. J. Angerbauer Electronics for Mod. Communications xvi. 319 This negative-resistance effect depends upon secondary emission from the plate. |
| 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 opposite direction to the rotor. |
| 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. |
| 1921 F. N. Freeman Exper. Educ. ii. 47 There is strong negative transfer from Set 2 to Set 3. 1933 M. Viteles Industr. Psychol. iii. xx. 427 The study of transfer effect has indicated that under certain conditions the practice of similar tasks may induce a negative transfer or interference with the acquisition of skill. 1938 R. S. Woodworth Exper. Psychol. viii. 176 When an act is carried over but impedes the learning of a second act we obviously have positive transfer and a negative transfer effect. 1950 O. 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. |
| 1916 C. E. Long tr. Jung's Coll. Papers Analytical 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. 1924 J. Riviere et al. tr. Freud's Coll. Papers II. xxviii. 319 One is forced to distinguish ‘positive’ transference from ‘negative’ transference, the transference of affectionate feeling from that of hostile feeling and to deal separately with the two varieties of the transference to the physician. 1954 R. W. Pickford Analysis of Obsessional i. 20 A technique for manipulating the positive and negative transferences to the patient's advantage. 1960 L. Pincus Marriage ii. 91 The distress, pain and aggression of a negative transference. 1964 Zaleznik & 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. 1968 A. J. Mandell in J. Marmor Mod. Psychoanal. xi. 283 Side reactions may begin to take the place of verbalized negative transference. |
9. a. negative crystal, (
a) a crystal in which the index of refraction is greater for the ordinary than the extraordinary ray; (
b) a crystalliform cavity in a mineral mass.
| 1831 Brewster 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. 1882 Geikie Text-bk. Geol. 96 Such a space defined by crystallographic contours is a negative crystal. |
b. negative eye-piece: (see
quot. 1867).
| 1831 Brewster Optics xliii. 361 This eyepiece is called the negative eyepiece. 1867 G. F. Chambers Astron. 617 A negative eye-piece consists..of 2 plano-convex lenses, the convex sides of both being..turned towards the object-glass. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 1521/1 The Huyghenian, or negative eye-piece..is the usual combination of lenses at the eye-end of a telescope or microscope. |
10. a. Photogr. Characterized by a reversal of the lights and shadows of the actual object, scene, etc.
| 1840 Herschel in Proc. Roy. Soc. IV. 206 In order to avoid circumlocution the author employs the terms positive and negative to express respectively pictures in which the lights and shades are the same as in nature..and in which they are opposite. 1841 Fox Talbot Spec. Patent No. 8842. 5 The portrait..is a negative one, and from this a positive copy may be obtained. 1853 Fam. Herald 3 Dec. 510/1 Having obtained negative pictures on both glass and paper. 1867 Brothers in G. F. Chambers Astron. 698 The negative or positive copy having been placed the wrong way. |
| fig. 1858 O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. xi. 109 Books are the negative pictures of thought. |
b. negative after-image, an after-image of complementary colour or brightness to that of the original impression.
| 1899 L. Hill Man. Human Physiol. xxxv. 439 Look steadfastly at a piece of white paper placed on a sheet of black paper, and then look up at a dark wall. You will now see a black spot on a whitish ground. This is a negative after-image... Look steadfastly now at a piece of red paper; a negative after-image appears on looking at the ceiling. This image will not be red, but of the complementary colour greenish blue. 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. |
11. a. Of, pertaining to, or designating a mould or reverse impression.
Cf. negative n. 8 b.
| 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. 1940 J. Osborne Dental Mech. i. 1 The technique necessary for the accurate construction of a model, or positive likeness of the patient's mouth, from an impression or negative likeness. 1947 J. C. Rich Materials & Methods Sculpture v. 90 Negative molds are of two varieties: those that are flexible and those that are rigid. Ibid. 96 Agar-base negative mixtures are a recent casting development. Ibid. 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. |
b. Having the character of a negative (
negative n. 8 c).
| 1949 Frayne & 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. Theol. = apophatic a.
| 1956, 1961 [see apophatic a.]. 1964 C. S. Lewis Discarded Image 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. |
III. 13. Comb.:
negative-going, increasing in magnitude in the direction of negative polarity; becoming less positive or more negative;
negative–positive a., pertaining 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.
| 1957 Negative-going [see positive-going adj. s.v. positive a. 16]. 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. 1969 J. J. Sparkes Transistor Switching v. 121 The logic inputs..predetermine the direction the circuit will tend to switch next time a negative-going voltage step (from ECC to zero) is applied to the pulse inputs. |
| 1936 C. E. K. Mees Photogr. 212/1 Negative–positive process, cine film. 1938 G. H. Sewell Amateur Film-Making ii. 12 The ‘negative–positive’ method consists of recording the negative image on one piece of film, and ‘printing off’ the positive image on to another piece of material in the manner described above. 1958 Newnes Compl. Amat. Photogr. 3 The next step [after daguerreotype], technically, was the development by Fox Talbot of a negative–positive process... Light-sensitive paper was the negative, reversed on to a second sheet of sensitised paper for the positive. Ibid. v. 85 Negative–positive films are designed to produce colour negatives, from which colour prints can be made. 1967 E. Chambers Photolitho-Offset x. 145 The line positive is made on ‘lith’ film from the negative–positive combination. |
Add:
[I.] [2.] c. Of evidence, experimental results, etc.: providing no support for a particular hypothesis,
esp. one concerning the presence or existence of something. Of a test or experiment, or the subject of one: producing a negative result. Opp.
positive a. 8
f.| 1788 Priestley in Phil. Trans. LXXIX. 15 The positive evidence of actually finding a substance is always more conclusive than the negative one, of not finding it. 1889 Cent. Dict. s.v., Negative result of an experimental inquiry. 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. 1943, etc. [see rhesus-negative adj. s.v. rhesus n. 2]. 1957 H. Williamson Golden Virgin i. xi. 172 The left lung showed symptoms of phthisis; a sputum test having proved negative, it was considered possibly to be due to chlorine gas inhalation. 1971 H. Guntrip Psychoanalytic Theory I. iii. 79 Physical tests had been made, all the findings were negative, and there was absolutely nothing wrong. 1974 Chamberlain & 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. |
[II.] [5.] b. Of an attitude, response, etc.: that is the opposite of favourable or positive; hostile, critical, unfavourable.
| 1921 G. B. Shaw Back to Methuselah Pref. p. lxxxii, Comedy, as a destructive, derisory, critical, negative art, kept the theatre open when sublime tragedy perished. 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. 1971 D. Francis Bonecrack iii. 34 His face was full of the negative attitude which erects a barrier against sympathy or understanding. 1978 S. Brill Teamsters i. 22 Negative press coverage of the Teamsters had heightened. 1981 A. Lurie Lang. of Clothes v. 147 The wearing of outrageous clothes primarily in order to attract negative attention—to annoy and offend—may also be a claim for status. 1987 J. Berman Talking Cure i. 10 Transference is usually ambivalent..consisting of positive (affectionate) and negative (hostile) feelings toward the analyst. |
c. Pessimistic, defeatist.
| 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. 1987 B. Moore Colour of Blood vii. 51, I don't want to be negative, but I don't see how we could get away. |
d. Of an emotion, experience, etc.: discouraging, unpleasant.
| 1951 P. D. Ouspensky Psychol. Man's Poss. Evol. iv. 72 What would happen to all our life, without negative emotions? 1964 I. Wallace Man (1965) ii. 50 Marriage was an affirmative act, and he had been shackled by countless negative fears. 1973 Howard Jrnl. XIII. 307 For many of their patients uniforms have associations with past negative experiences of authority. 1987 Performance Sept./Oct. 28/3 It is always ‘negative’ experiences such as fear that are wished upon that audience. |
e. Designating an absolute lack of something;
= no a. 1 b.
colloq. (?
orig. U.S. Services').
| [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. 1986 Times 28 Jan. 11/6 They were described as ‘having negative vulnerability to water entry’. |
Add:
[II.] [8.] [c.] negative equity Comm., the indebtedness that occurs when the value of an asset falls below that of the debt outstanding on it,
esp. when the outstanding debt on a mortgaged property is in excess of its current market value.
| [1850 U.S. Reports XLIX. 604 There is still a further want of equity, or, more precisely speaking, a negative of equity.] 1958 U.S. Tax Court Reports XXVIII. 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. 1992 Daily Mail 17 Aug. 12/1 ‘The presence of negative equity seems likely to remain an important feature of the finances of many households for some time to come.’ It would need annual house price rises of 10 per cent to free everyone caught in the mortgage trap by the end of 1995. |
▪ III. negative, v. (
ˈnɛgətɪv)
[f. prec.] 1. trans. a. U.S. To reject (a person proposed for some office).
| 1706 [see negatived below]. 1720 S. Sewall Diary 26 May, The Govr. consented to the Choice of the Councillours, having Negativ'd Col. Byfield and Dr. Clarke. 1760 T. Hutchinson Hist. Mass. i. (1765) 10 Disputes..caused him to insist upon his right of negativing the speaker. 1876 Bancroft Hist. U.S. IV. xxv. 6 Negativing six of the ablest ‘friends of the people’ in the board. |
b. U.S. To veto (a bill, law, etc.).
| 1749 Col. Rec. Connect. (1876) IX. 453 It would..invest the Governor..with a power to negative all acts that should be passed in our Assembly. 1834 D. Webster Sp. 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. 1876 Bancroft Hist. U.S. II. iii. i. 18 (Funk), Madison struggled to confer on the national legislature the right to negative at its discretion any state law whatever. |
2. To reject, set aside (a proposal, suggestion, motion, etc.); to refuse to accept or entertain.
| 1778 Earl 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. ix. 120 Something was said about a fly, but Miss Carlyle negatived it. 1879 E. K. Bates Egypt. Bonds I. vii. 140 O'Grady negatives the idea so decidedly that there is no appeal. |
b. To refuse to countenance (a claim, etc.).
| 1788 J. Powell Devises (1827) II. 89 Claim of the heir negatived in Noel v. Lord Henley. 1833 Coleridge Table-t. 16 Aug., Taxation..implies compact, and negatives any right to plunder. |
3. To disprove; to show to be false.
| 1790 Paley Horæ Paul. i. 6 By ancient testimony..they are negatived and excluded. 1836–41 Brande Chem. (ed. 5) 158 The inference..is negatived, in regard to mercury at least, by substituting that metal for the cold water. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xlii. (1856) 381 All our reasonings seemed to be negatived by the results. 1885 Law Times Rep. LII. 625/1 A plaintiff..must also negative contributory negligence in himself. |
b. To deny, contradict.
| 1812 Examiner 7 Sept. 570/2 An affidavit..negativing the keeping..any horse..by Mr. Weddall. 1884 Law Times Rep. L. 177/2 An affidavit categorically negativing the statements in the libel. |
4. To render ineffective, neutralize.
| 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. |
5. To take a negative photograph of.
nonce-use.
| 1894 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. |
Hence
ˈnegatived ppl. a.,
ˈnegativing vbl. n. and ppl. a.| 1706 S. Sewall Diary 6 June, Instead of the Negativ'd were chosen B. Brown [etc.]. 1776 in F. Chase Hist. Dartmouth Coll. (1891) I. 657 A negativing body over those that form the laws. 1777 F. Burney Early Diary (1889) II. 194 He had persisted..I could never have consented, however pained by perpetual negativing. 1809 W. Irving Knickerb. (1861) 256 Your weighty men, though slow to devise, being always great at ‘negativing’. 1895 Zangwill Master 430 He saw her as in her later guise, stern, sorrowful, negativing. |
Add:
[3.] c. To negate, cancel.
| 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. 1986 Oxf. Jrnl. Legal Stud. VI. 401 We can conclude that the harm was a consequence of the use of the product... Biological susceptibility.., even if abnormal, is said not to negative the connection. |