Etymologically
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positive

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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
  • 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