Etymologically
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negative

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈneɡ.ə.tɪv/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English negatif,[2] borrowed from Anglo-Norman negatif,[2] Old French negatif,[2][3] and directly from Late Latin negātīvus (“that which denies”),[2][4][5] from negātus, past participle of negāre (“to deny, say no”).[2][6][3] It is related to deny.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun, a negative command or prohibition: about 1380,[7] the late 14th century in Etymonline.[2] The adjective, “making denial”, of persons: about 1400.[7][2]

Semantic evolution

The adjective meant “expressing negation” from about 1500,[2] or 1509 in the OED,[7] and of commands “prohibitory” from 1526.[7] “Marked by the absence of the positive” is from the 1560s.[2] The algebraic sense, of quantities less than zero, is from the 1670s,[2] and the electrical sense from 1755.[2] The noun meant a negative statement from the 1560s and a negative reply from 1571,[7][2] and the right of veto from 1613.[7] A negative number is from 1706.[2] A photographic image with light and dark reversed is recorded by 1853.[2][6] Negative as a reply meaning “no”, first in radio communication, is from 1945 in Etymonline[2] and 1946 in the OED.[7] The verb, “to veto, reject”, is American from the early 18th century.[5][3]

Timeline

  • c. 1380 – noun, a prohibition.[7]
  • c. 1400 – adjective, denying.[7]
  • 1509 – expressing negation.[7]
  • 1560s – lacking positive qualities.[2]
  • 1670s – in algebra, less than zero.[2]
  • 1706 – verb, to veto.[3]
  • 1755 – in electricity.[2]
  • 1853 – a photographic negative.[2]
  • 1945 – “no”, in radio communication.[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Expressing denial or refusal: a negative answer.
  2. Lacking positive qualities; pessimistic or unfavourable.
  3. (mathematics) Less than zero.
  4. (physics) Having an electric charge of the kind carried by electrons.
  5. (medicine) Not showing the presence of a condition or organism being tested for.
  6. Of a photograph, having light and dark reversed.

Noun

  1. A statement or reply expressing denial.
  2. A photographic image with light and dark reversed, used to make prints.
  3. A negative quality or aspect; a drawback.

Verb

  1. To refuse to accept; to veto.
  2. To deny or disprove.

Word family

  • negatively
  • negativeness
  • negativity
  • electronegative
  • photonegative
  • seronegative
  • gram-negative
  • internegative

Usage notes

Keats's phrase negative capability (1817) describes the capacity to remain in uncertainty and doubt without reaching irritably after fact and reason.[2]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press