Definitions for the word "negative" from multiple English dictionaries.
1. a.
Denying; implying, containing, or asserting denial, negation or refusal; returning the answer no to an inquiry or request; refusing assent; as, a negative answer; a negative opinion; -- opposed to affirmative.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
2. a.
Not positive; without affirmative statement or demonstration; indirect; consisting in the absence of something; privative; as, a negative argument; a negative morality; negative criticism.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
3. a.
Asserting absence of connection between a subject and a predicate; as, a negative proposition.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
4. a.
Of or pertaining to a picture upon glass or other material, in which the lights and shades of the original, and the relations of right and left, are reversed.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
5. a.
Metalloidal; nonmetallic; -- contracted with positive or basic; as, the nitro group is negative.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
6. n.
A proposition by which something is denied or forbidden; a conception or term formed by prefixing the negative particle to one which is positive; an opposite or contradictory term or conception.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
7. n.
A word used in denial or refusal; as, not, no.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
8. n.
The refusal or withholding of assents; veto.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
9. n.
That side of a question which denies or refuses, or which is taken by an opposing or denying party; the relation or position of denial or opposition; as, the question was decided in the negative.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
10. n.
A picture upon glass or other material, in which the light portions of the original are represented in some opaque material (usually reduced silver), and the dark portions by the uncovered and transparent or semitransparent ground of the picture.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
11. n.
The negative plate of a voltaic or electrolytic cell.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
12. v. t.
To prove unreal or intrue; to disprove.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
13. v. t.
To reject by vote; to refuse to enact or sanction; as, the Senate negatived the bill.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
14. v. t.
To neutralize the force of; to counteract.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
15. adj.
1 expressing or implying denial, prohibition, or refusal (negative answer). 2 (of a person or attitude) lacking positive attributes. 3 marked by the absence of qualities (negative reaction). 4 of the opposite nature to a thing regarded as positive. 5 (of a quantity) less than zero, to be subtracted from others or from zero. 6 electr. A of the kind of charge carried by electrons. B containing or producing such a charge. n. 1 negative statement or word. 2 photog. A image with black and white reversed or colours replaced by complementary ones, from which positive pictures are obtained. B developed film or plate bearing such an image. v. (-ving) 1 refuse to accept or countenance; veto. 2 disprove. 3 contradict (a statement). 4 neutralize (an effect). in the negative with negative effect. negatively adv. Negativity n.
Source: Oxford English Dictionary, 1884
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