positive

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈpɒz.ə.tɪv/, US /ˈpɑː.zə.t̬ɪv/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English positif,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French positif (“laid down”) and directly borrowed from Latin positīvus (“settled by agreement, positive”),^[4][5][2] from positus, the past participle of pōnere (“to put, place, lay down”).^[4][2][5] It is related to position and postpone.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of laws, “formally laid down, decreed by authority” (as opposed to natural): before 1325^[5] or the early 14th century.^[4]

Semantic evolution

“Absolute” is from the mid-15th century.^[4] In grammar the positive degree of an adjective is from 1447,^[7] and the noun from 1530, in Palsgrave.^[5][3] As the opposite of negative the word first appears before 1398, in Trevisa,^[5] but in technical uses later: in philosophy, “practical, dealing with facts”, from 1594,^[5] in mathematics, “greater than zero”, from 1704, and in electricity from 1755.^[5][4] Proof positive, “explicit, definite”, is first recorded in Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor (1598).^[5][7] Of people, “confident in opinion, very sure”, is from the 1660s (1665).^[4][7] In photography a positive is from 1840^[5] or by 1853.^[4] The psychological sense “concentrating on what is constructive and good” is from 1916, and positive thinking from 1953.^[4]

Timeline

• before 1325 – formally laid down.^[5]
• 1447 – the positive degree in grammar.^[7]
• mid-15th century – absolute.^[4]
• 1598 – proof positive.^[5]
• 1665 – very sure.^[7]
• 1704 – greater than zero.^[5]
• 1755 – positive electricity.^[5][4]
• 1840 – a photographic positive.^[5]
• 1916 – optimistic, constructive.^[4]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Hopeful and confident; optimistic.
2. Completely certain: are you positive?.
3. Showing agreement or approval: a positive response.
4. Clear and definite: positive proof.
5. Of a medical test, showing that something is present.
6. (mathematics) Greater than zero.
7. (physics) Having the electric charge of a proton.
8. (grammar) Of an adjective or adverb, in its simple form, not comparative or superlative.

Noun

1. A good or useful quality.
2. A photographic image with light and dark as in nature.
3. (grammar) The positive degree.

Word family

• positively
• positiveness

Related words

• position
• positivism
• positivity
• posit
• postpone
• deposit
• compose
• negative

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 The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press