NEGATIVE

I. adjective Date: 15th century 1. marked by denial, prohibition, or refusal , b. denying a predicate of a subject or a part of a subject , denoting the absence or the contradictory of something , expressing negation , adverse , unfavorable , 2. lacking positive qualities, marked by features of hostility, withdrawal, or pessimism that hinder or oppose constructive treatment or development , promoting a person or cause by criticizing or attacking the competition , 3. a. less than zero and opposite in sign to a positive number that when added to the given number yields zero , having more outgo than income ; constituting a loss , extending or generated in a direction opposite to an arbitrarily chosen regular direction or position , 4. being, relating to, or charged with electricity of which the electron is the elementary unit, having more electrons than protons , c. having lower electric potential and constituting the part toward which the current flows from the external circuit , being the electron-emitting electrode of an electron tube, 5. not affirming the presence of a condition, substance, or organism suspected to be present, directed or moving away from a source of stimulation , less than the pressure of the atmosphere , having the light and dark parts in approximately inverse relation to those of the original photographic subject, diverging light rays and forming a virtual inverted image, ~ly adverb ~ness noun negativity noun II. noun Date: 1571 1. a. a reply that indicates the withholding of assent ; refusal , a right of veto, an adverse vote ; veto , a proposition which denies or contradicts another, 2. something that is the opposite or negation of something else, drawback , liability , 3. an expression (as the word no ) of negation or denial, a ~ number, the side that upholds the contradictory proposition in a debate, a ~ photographic image on transparent material used for printing positive pictures, a reverse impression taken from a piece of sculpture or ceramics, a ~ result (as of a test) , III. transitive verb (-tived; -tiving) Date: 1706 1. to refuse assent to, to reject by or as if by a vote, to demonstrate the falsity of, to deny the truth, reality, or validity of, neutralize , counteract