negate, v.
(nɪˈgeɪt)
[f. negāt-, ppl. stem of L. negāre to deny.]
a. trans. To deny, negative; to deny the existence of; to destroy, nullify, render ineffective. (Freq. in recent use.)
| [1623 Cockeram ii, To Deny, negate.] 1837 Fraser's Mag. XV. 723 Understanding..establishes its quality as a real object, by negating the board on which it is drawn. 1874 Contemp. Rev. XXIII. 405 When the lower life asserts itself against the higher, the higher may consciously negate it. 1891 H. Jones Browning 207 Evolution not only postulates unity.., but it also negates all differences. |
| absol. 1835 Fraser's Mag. XI. 642 Whatever negates is something, else no negation were possible. |
b. Gram. To render negative in sense.
| 1930 W. Empson Seven Types of Ambiguity vii. 269 Not may negate going or weeping. That the ear expects did go may mean that all nature wept for Polonius. 1961 R. B. Long Sentence & its Parts iv. 105 Even the words that commonly negate clauses do not always do so. 1972 R. Quirk et al. Gram. Contemp. Eng. 382 Not here functions as a predeterminer in the italicized noun phrase; but it has the effect of negating the whole clause. |
Hence
neˈgated ppl. a.,
neˈgatedness,
neˈgating ppl. a.| 1876 F. H. Bradley Eth. Stud. 118 Real pain is the feeling of the negatedness of the self. Ibid., Where pain comes from the negated function. 1885 W. C. Coupland Spir. Goethe's Faust ii. 53 One of..a negating class of..beings. |