positive

English Online Dictionary. What means positive‎? What does positive mean?

English

Alternative forms

• +ve (abbreviation)

Etymology

From Old French positif, from Latin positivus, from the past participle stem of ponere (“to place”). Compare posit.

Pronunciation

• (General American) enPR: pŏzʹĭ-tĭv, IPA^(key): /ˈpɑzɪtɪv/, /-ɾɪv/
• Hyphenation (UK): pos‧it‧ive, (US): pos‧i‧tive
• Rhymes: -ɒzɪtɪv

Adjective

positive (comparative more positive, superlative most positive)

1. Included, present, characterized by affirmation.
2. (law) Formally laid down. [from the 14th c.]
3. Stated definitively and without qualification. [from the 16th c.]
4. Fully assured in opinion. [from the 17th c.]

   Synonyms: certain, sure, wis

   Antonyms: uncertain, unsure

6. (mathematics, of a number) Greater than zero. [from the 18th c.]

   Antonyms: negative, nonpositive

   Hypernyms: nonzero, nonnegative

7. Characterized by constructiveness or influence for the better.
8. Overconfident, dogmatic.
10. (chiefly philosophy) Actual, real, concrete, not theoretical or speculative.
    • 1885, Marcellin Berthelot, Les Origines de l'Alkimie as quoted in M. M. Pattison Muir, A History of Chemical Theories and Laws, 1907.

      Chemistry is not a primitive science, like geometry or astronomy; it is constructed from the debris of a previous scientific formation; a formation half chimerical and half positive...

11. (physics) Having more protons than electrons.

    Antonym: negative

12. (grammar) Describing the primary sense of an adjective, adverb or noun; not comparative, superlative, augmentative nor diminutive.

13. (grammar) Describing a verb that is not negated, especially in languages which have distinct positive and negative verb forms, e.g., Finnish.
14. Derived from an object by itself; not dependent on changing circumstances or relations.

    Synonym: absolute

15. Characterized by the existence or presence of distinguishing qualities or features, rather than by their absence.

17. Characterized by the presence of features which support a hypothesis.

18. Confirmed, straight-up.
19. (photography) Of a visual image, true to the original in light, shade and colour values.

20. Favorable, desirable by those interested or invested in that which is being judged.

    Synonyms: good; see also Thesaurus:good

    Antonyms: bad, negative; see also Thesaurus:bad

21. Wholly what is expressed; colloquially downright, entire, outright.

22. Optimistic. [from the 20th c.]

23. (chemistry) electropositive
24. (chemistry) basic; metallic; not acid; opposed to negative, and said of metals, bases, and basic radicals.
25. (slang) HIV positive.
    • quoted in 2013, William I. Johnston, HIV-Negative: How the Uninfected Are Affected by AIDS (page 145)

      We certainly told him at that time that I was negative. We talked about transmission. We told him we don't do anything that would cause me to become positive.

26. (New Age jargon) Good, desirable, healthful, pleasant, enjoyable.

Usage notes

Regarding the mathematical sense (sense 5), positive and negative are conceptually nonzero. The way zero is handled operationally by software may sometimes vary; for example, a spreadsheet application might treat positive as meaning greater than or equal to zero, at least in some functions.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

positive (plural positives)

1. A thing capable of being affirmed; something real or actual.
2. A favourable point or characteristic.
3. Something having a positive value in physics, such as an electric charge.
4. (grammar) A degree of comparison of adjectives and adverbs.
5. (grammar) An adjective or adverb in the positive degree.
6. (photography) A positive image; one that displays true colors and shades, not their opposites or complements.

   Antonym: negative

   Coordinate term: diapositive

7. The positive plate of a voltaic or electrolytic cell.
8. A positive result of a test.

Translations

Danish

Adjective

positive

1. inflection of positiv:
   1. definite singular
   2. plural

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /po.zi.tiv/
• Homophones: positivent, positives

Adjective

positive

1. feminine singular of positif

Verb

positive

1. inflection of positiver:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

German

Pronunciation

Adjective

positive

1. inflection of positiv:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

Adjective

positive

1. feminine plural of positivo

Anagrams

• sopitevi

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [pɔ.sɪˈtiː.wɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [po.s̬iˈt̪iː.ve]

Adjective

positīve

1. vocative masculine singular of positīvus

Norwegian Bokmål

Adjective

positive

1. definite singular of positiv
2. plural of positiv

Norwegian Nynorsk

Adjective

positive

1. definite singular of positiv
2. plural of positiv

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /posiˈtibe/ [po.siˈt̪i.β̞e]
• Rhymes: -ibe
• Syllabification: po‧si‧ti‧ve

Verb

positive

1. inflection of positivar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Swedish

Adjective

positive

1. definite natural masculine singular of positiv