positivus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [pɔ.sɪˈtiː.wʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [po.s̬iˈtiː.vus]^[1]

Forms

positīvus (feminine positīva, neuter positīvum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin pōnō (“to put, place”) + -īvus.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Gellius, in a chapter heading of the Attic Nights, discusses whether names are imposed by convention or given by nature.^[3][4] Köbler dates Gellius c. 165 AD.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense was arbitrarily imposed, settled by agreement rather than natural, as in Gellius' chapter on names, and Chalcidius speaks of justice and equity established by law.^[2][3][6] In grammar it was the positive degree of an adjective, as opposed to the comparative and superlative, in Cledonius and Priscian, and Macrobius uses the neuter as a noun for a noun.^[3][4]

In British medieval Latin it could mean egg-laying, of geese, in a record of 1441.^[7] English positive is recorded in the early 14th century as a legal term for what is formally laid down, opposed to natural.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of names imposed by convention.^[3][5]
• c. 300 AD – Chalcidius uses it of established justice.^[6][5]
• 6th century AD – Priscian uses it of the positive degree.^[4][5]
• early 14th century – English positive is recorded.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Settled by convention, arbitrarily imposed, as opposed to natural.^[2][3]
2. (grammar) In the positive degree.^[3][1]
3. (Medieval Latin) Laying eggs.^[7]

Related words

• pōnō
• English positive

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com