different between positive vs negatively

English

Alternative forms

• +ve (abbreviation)

Etymology

From Old French positif, from Latin positivus, from the past participle stem of ponere (“to place”). Compare posit.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?p?z??t?v/
• (General American) enPR: p?z??-t?v, IPA^(key): /?p?z??t?v/
• Rhymes: -?z?t?v
• Hyphenation (UK): pos?it?ive, (US): pos?i?tive

Adjective

positive (comparative more positive, superlative most positive)

1. Not negative or neutral.
2. (law) Formally laid down. [from the 14th c.]
   • 1594, Richard Hooker, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie

     In laws, that which is natural bindeth universally; that which is positive, not so.

3. Stated definitively and without qualification. [from the 16th c.]

   • Positive words, that he would not bear arms against King Edward’s son.

4. Fully assured in opinion. [from the 17th c.]

5. (mathematics) Of number, greater than zero. [from the 18th c.]

   Antonym: nonpositive

6. Characterized by constructiveness or influence for the better.
7. Overconfident, dogmatic.
8. (chiefly philosophy) Actual, real, concrete, not theoretical or speculative.
   • 1597 Francis Bacon, The Colours of Good and Evil

     The flower or blossom is a a positive good.

9. (physics) Having more protons than electrons.

   Antonym: negative

10. (grammar) Describing the primary sense of an adjective, adverb or noun; not comparative, superlative, augmentative nor diminutive.

11. Derived from an object by itself; not dependent on changing circumstances or relations; absolute.

12. Characterized by the existence or presence of distinguishing qualities or features, rather than by their absence.

14. Characterized by the presence of features which support a hypothesis.

15. (photography) Of a visual image, true to the original in light, shade and colour values.

16. Favorable, desirable by those interested or invested in that which is being judged.

17. Wholly what is expressed; colloquially downright, entire, outright.

18. Optimistic. [from the 20th c.]

19. (chemistry) electropositive
20. (chemistry) basic; metallic; not acid; opposed to negative, and said of metals, bases, and basic radicals.
21. (slang) HIV positive.
    • quoted in 2013, William I. Johnston, HIV-Negative: How the Uninfected Are Affected by AIDS (page 145)

      We certainly told him at that time that I was negative. We talked about transmission. We told him we don't do anything that would cause me to become positive.

22. (New Age jargon) Good, desirable, healthful, pleasant, enjoyable; (often precedes 'energy', 'thought', 'feeling' or 'emotion').
    • 2009, Christopher Johns, Becoming a Reflective Practitioner, John Wiley & Sons, p. 15

      Negative feelings can be worked through and their energy converted into positive energy... In crisis, normal patterns of self-organization fail, resulting in anxiety (negative energy). Being open systems, people can exchange this energy with the environment and create positive energy for taking action...

Synonyms

• (steadfast in one's knowledge or belief): certain, sure, wis

Antonyms

• (doubtful): uncertain, unsure
• (spiritual quality): bad, evil, nongood

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

positive (plural positives)

1. A thing capable of being affirmed; something real or actual.

   • rating Positives by their Privatives

2. A favourable point or characteristic.
3. Something having a positive value in physics, such as an electric charge.
4. (grammar) A degree of comparison of adjectives and adverbs.
5. (grammar) An adjective or adverb in the positive degree.
6. (photography) A positive image; one that displays true colors and shades, as opposed to a negative.
7. The positive plate of a voltaic or electrolytic cell.
8. A positive result of a test.

Translations

Danish

Adjective

positive

1. inflection of positiv:
   1. definite singular
   2. plural

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /po.zi.tiv/
• Homophones: positivent, positives

Adjective

positive

1. feminine singular of positif

Verb

positive

1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive of positiver
2. second-person singular imperative of positiver

German

Pronunciation

Adjective

positive

1. inflection of positiv:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

Adjective

positive

1. feminine plural of positivo

Anagrams

• sopitevi

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /po.si?ti?.u?e/, [p?s???t?i?u??]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /po.si?ti.ve/, [p?s?i?t?i?v?]

Adjective

posit?ve

1. vocative masculine singular of posit?vus

Norwegian Bokmål

Adjective

positive

1. definite singular of positiv
2. plural of positiv

Norwegian Nynorsk

Adjective

positive

1. definite singular of positiv
2. plural of positiv

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /posi?tibe/, [po.si?t?i.??e]

Verb

positive

1. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of positivar.
2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of positivar.
3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of positivar.
4. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of positivar.

Swedish

Adjective

positive

1. absolute definite natural masculine form of positiv.

English

Etymology

negative +? -ly

Pronunciation

Adverb

negatively (comparative more negatively, superlative most negatively)

1. In a negative manner; so as to be damaging or not positive.
   • 1644, John Milton, The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce, London, Chapter 3, p. 38,^[1]

     How justly then might human law and Philosophy rise up against the righteousnesse of Moses, if this be true which our vulgar Divinity Fathers upon him, yeah upon God himselfe; not silently and only negatively to permit, but in his law to divulge a written and generall priviledge to commit and persist in unlawfull divorces with a high hand, with security and no ill fame […]

   • 1722, Daniel Defoe, Moll Flanders, London: J. Cooke, 1765, p. 17,^[2]

     At last one of them asked me what a Gentlewoman was? that puzzled me much; but however, I explained myself negatively; that it was one that did not go to Service to do Housework […]

   • 1776, Thomas Paine, Common Sense, Philadelphia, 6th edition, p. 5,^[3]

     Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively, by uniting our affections; the latter negatively, by restraining our vices.

   • 1859, Charles Dickens, The Uncommercial Traveller, London: Chapman & Hall, 1905, Chapter 1, p. 1,^[4]

     Allow me to introduce myself—first, negatively. ¶ No landlord is my friend and brother, no chambermaid loves me, no waiter worships me, no boots admires and envies me.

   • 1997, John E. Chubb, “Too much of a good thing,” Time, 2 June, 1997,^[5]

     Having the entire summer off from school negatively affects learning.

   • 2009, Mark Sweney and James Robinson, “Not all regions like to hear their own accents in ads, survey finds,” The Guardian, 13 May, 2009,^[6]

     Tynesiders appear to be proud of their accents, according to the findings, but Brummies responded negatively to hearing their vowels on TV and radio, partly because they recognise they are ridiculed for them by some of their compatriots.

2. (responding to a question, proposal, vote, etc.) In the negative; with the answer “no.”
   • 1683, Richard Browne (translator), The Cure of Old Age and Preservation of Youth by Roger Bacon, London: Tho. Flesher, Doubt VII, p. 83,^[7]

     I answer negatively:

   • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick, Chapter 128,^[8]

     Throttling his joy, Ahab negatively answered this unexpected question […]

   • 1935, “Season’s End,” Time, 8 April, 1935,^[9]

     Twelve States now in the affirmative column at one time or another in the past voted negatively.

   • 1983, Reuters, “Iran rebuffs Iraq on sparing civilians,” New York Times, 27 May, 1983,^[10]

     Iran responded negatively today to a proposal by Iraq that the two countries agree to stop shelling each other’s towns and villages.

Antonyms

• (in a negative manner): positively
• (in the negative): affirmatively

Related terms

• negative

Translations

Anagrams

• agentively