entry
negative
/ˈnɛɡətɪv/Expressing denial, opposition, absence, or less than zero
From Latin neg (deny).
from Latin negativus "that which denies,"
+1 more sourcefrom Anglo-French negatif (early 14c.), Old French negatif (13c.) and directly
+1 more sourcefrom Anglo-French negatif (early 14c.), Old French negatif (13c.) and directly
+1 more sourcefrom Anglo-French negatif (early 14c.), Old French negatif (13c.) and directly
+1 more sourceWord Ancestry
from Latin negativus "that which denies,"
+1 more sourcefrom Anglo-French negatif (early 14c.), Old French negatif (13c.) and directly
+1 more sourcefrom Anglo-French negatif (early 14c.), Old French negatif (13c.) and directly
+1 more sourcefrom Anglo-French negatif (early 14c.), Old French negatif (13c.) and directly
+1 more sourceA negative began life as something almost dramatically direct: a Latin “no.” Roman negāre meant “to deny” or simply “to say no,” and its descendant negātīvus described whatever carried that denial. French-speaking lawyers and scholars passed negatif into Anglo-French and Middle English around the 1300s, where it could describe an answer, a grammatical form, or a refusal. Centuries later, mathematics gave the word a colder job: numbers below zero, the marks marching leftward from zero in the 1670s. Electricity then made “negative” physical in 1755, while John Keats gave it a strangely noble twist in a letter dated December 21, 1817, praising “Negative Capability”—the ability to remain inside uncertainty without angrily demanding an answer. So every time someone says “negative,” the ancient Latin no is still there, wearing either a mathematician’s minus sign or a poet’s thoughtful silence.
The Story
A negative began life as something almost dramatically direct: a Latin “no.” Roman negāre meant “to deny” or simply “to say no,” and its descendant negātīvus described whatever carried that denial. French-speaking lawyers and scholars passed negatif into Anglo-French and Middle English around the 1300s, where it could describe an answer, a grammatical form, or a refusal. Centuries later, mathematics gave the word a colder job: numbers below zero, the marks marching leftward from zero in the 1670s. Electricity then made “negative” physical in 1755, while John Keats gave it a strangely noble twist in a letter dated December 21, 1817, praising “Negative Capability”—the ability to remain inside uncertainty without angrily demanding an answer. So every time someone says “negative,” the ancient Latin no is still there, wearing either a mathematician’s minus sign or a poet’s thoughtful silence.
Modern Usage
Self-indulgent or needlessly hurtful in attitude or remarks; also an emphatic “no.”
Notable References
- “That’s a negative, Ghostrider”
Kin & Kindred
From 'neg'·deny; say no
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary
Wiktionary