negativo Italian · revision 39304

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1305–1306, Giordano da Pisa|origins=la nego}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ne.ɡaˈti.vo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''negativo''' (feminine negativa, masculine plural negativi, feminine plural negative, superlative negativissimo)^(Wiktionary)

+ An old form is ''niegativo''.^(GDLI|11, 310)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-lat|negativus|alt=negātīvus|t=that denies]], formed from [[m|la|negō|t=to deny, refuse]] with the suffix [[m|la|-īvus]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) In the photographic sense it came through [[en|negative]].^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) The Latin verb is also the source of [[negare]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is in the sermons of Giordano da Pisa (1305–1306), with the sense “containing a negation, serving to deny”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ For centuries the adjective belonged to logic, grammar and theology: Tommaseo–Bellini quotes Segneri on a “negative” and a “positive” kindness, and a negative proposition in logic.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Alessandro Volta in 1816 used it for one of the two conventional poles of a scientific contrast, as in negative electricity.^(DELI 1999) By 1869 Tommaseo–Bellini records it for numbers below zero and for doctrines that only contradict others without proposing anything.^(DELI 1999) The sense “not having the hoped-for effect” is recorded in 1891 by Petrocchi.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ In photography Tommaseo–Bellini (1869) explains ''imagini negative'' as pictures in which the light parts of the object appear dark, and the noun ''negativo'' follows in 1875 in Lessona.^(DELI 1999) In medicine a test that excludes what was looked for, and then a patient who is free of it, are called ''negativo''.^(GDLI|11, 310)^(GRADIT 2003) The adverb ''pensare negativo'' and the radio reply ''negativo'' for “no” are recent.^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1305–1306 – Giordano da Pisa uses ''negativo''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1816 – Alessandro Volta uses the word in physics.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1869 – Tommaseo–Bellini records negative numbers and negative photographic images.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1875 – The noun ''negativo'', a photographic negative, appears in Lessona.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1891 – Petrocchi records the sense “unsuccessful”.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Expressing or containing a [[m|en|negation]] or a refusal: ''Alla mia domanda ha risposto con un cenno negativo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Unfavourable, [[m|en|hostile]]: ''una recensione negativa''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Of a person or attitude, inclined to [[m|en|pessimism]], not constructive.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # Harmful, disadvantageous: ''il lato negativo di un'idea''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Having the opposite effect to the one hoped for: ''un bilancio negativo''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(medicine)'' Of a test, showing that what was looked for is absent; of a person, found free of it.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(law, ethics)'' Forbidding something: ''un precetto negativo''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(physics, mathematics)'' Conventionally opposed to positive, as of an electric charge, or less than zero, as of a number.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(photography)'' A [[m|en|negative]], an image with light and dark reversed, and the film or plate that carries it.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # ''(colloquial)'' Negatively: ''pensare negativo''.^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(radio)'' “No”, as a reply in radio communication.^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[negatività]]

+ * [[negativamente]]

+ * [[negativismo]]

+ * [[negativizzare]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[negare]]

+ * [[negazione]]

+ * [[positivo]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}