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positivo

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word positivo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1336, Boccaccio
Borrowed from
Latin positivus
Ultimate origin
Latin pōnō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin sino
Latin pono
Latin positivus
English positive
German positiv
Italian positivo
From the same root
Latin situs ← sino
Latin circumpono ← pono
Latin positura ← pono
Latin postpono ← pono
Latin praepono ← pono
Latin repono ← pono
Latin sepono ← pono
Latin superpono ← pono

Pronunciation

  • /po.ziˈti.vo/[1]

Forms

positivo (feminine positiva, masculine plural positivi, feminine plural positive)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin positīvus (“laid down, established”), a learned word formed on positus (“placed”), the past participle of pōnō (“to put, place”).[2][3][4][5][1] The Latin grammarians used it for the positive degree of the adjective; in Scholastic terminology it came to mean “containing an affirmation”, as against negātīvus.[3][6] The same learned word is French positif, recorded from 1265, and Spanish positivo.[7][3]

Two later senses came from other languages.[2][3] In photography the adjective and the noun positiva follow English positive, recorded in 1840.[2][8][6] The sense “founded on the natural sciences” comes from the positive philosophy of Auguste Comte (1830), and positivismo and positivista are French positivisme and positiviste.[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, in Boccaccio about 1336, has the sense “laid down by someone, established by a historical act”, the sense of diritto positivo, law made by human authority.[2][9]

Semantic evolution

Pallavicino (before 1667) uses the word for something affirmative that gives certainty.[2] In mathematics it described numbers greater than zero before 1742 (Guido Grandi), and in physics Volta used it in 1816 for one of two opposite conventional states, as in positive electricity.[2] The sense “practical, sticking to facts” was recorded by Ugolini in 1848, with the example of a man who “goes after what is certain”;[2][3] positività is from the same year.[2][3]

The modern senses “favourable”, “good” and “optimistic” (un tipo positivo) extend the idea of affirmation.[4][5] In medicine a test is positivo when it finds what is looked for, and so is the patient; the GDLI quotes a newspaper of 1988.[7]

Timeline

  • About 1336 – Boccaccio uses positivo for something established by an act.[2]
  • Before 1667 – Sforza Pallavicino uses it for “affirmative, giving certainty”.[2]
  • Before 1742 – Guido Grandi uses it of numbers greater than zero.[2]
  • 1816 – Alessandro Volta uses it in physics.[2]
  • 1840 – English positive is used in photography.[2]
  • 1848 – Ugolini records the sense “practical, matter-of-fact”.[2]
  • 1988 – A newspaper uses positivo of a medical test.[7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Real, founded on facts that can be verified; certain: Non abbiamo ancora notizie positive. The scienze positive are the exact and experimental sciences.[4][5][8]
  2. Good, useful, advantageous: L'incontro ha avuto un esito positivo.[4][5]
  3. Favourable, approving: un parere positivo sul progetto.[4][9]
  4. Affirmative: Ha dato una risposta positiva.[4][9]
  5. Of a person, practical and down-to-earth, or optimistic and constructive: È una ragazza molto positiva, non si scoraggia mai.[4][8]
  6. (law) Laid down by an authority, as opposed to natural: diritto positivo.[9][5][2]
  7. (mathematics, physics) Greater than zero; of electric charge, opposite to negative.[2][4][1]
  8. (medicine) Of a test, showing the presence of what is sought; of a patient, having the condition tested for.[7]
  9. (photography) Of an image, with lights and shades as in the subject.[2][3]
  10. (grammar) Of an adjective, in the base degree.[3][6]

Word family

  • positiva
  • positività
  • positivamente
  • positivismo
  • positivista
  • positivistico
  • diapositiva

Usage notes

Used as a noun, il positivo is what is good in something: di positivo c'è che….[4][8] In photography the noun positiva is a print made from the negative.[3][2] DEI also records an obsolete noun positivo, a small chamber organ.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3034
  7. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  8. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  9. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli

Related etymologies

  • no · also from Latin
  • cosa · also from Latin
  • a · also from Latin
  • mio · also from Latin
  • uno · also from Latin
  • si · also from Latin
  • sapere · also from Latin
  • fare · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Positivo.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/positivo. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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