Contents

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

Hyphenation: po‧si‧tive

Adjective

positive (comparative more positive, superlative most positive)

Positive positive

Comparative more positive

Superlative most positive
  1. Definitively laid down; explicitly stated; clearly expressed, precise, emphatic.
    • Francis Bacon:
      Positive words, that he would not bear arms against King Edward’s son.
  2. Fully assured, confident; certain.
    I’m absolutely positive you've spelt that wrong.
  3. Overconfident, dogmatic.
    • Alexander Pope:
      Some positive, persisting fops we know, That, if once wrong, will needs be always so.
  4. (grammar) Describing the primary sense of an adjective or adverb; not comparative or superlative.
    ‘Better’ is an irregular comparative of the positive form ‘good’.
  5. Derived from an object by itself; not dependent on changing circumstances or relations; absolute.
    The idea of beauty is not positive, but depends on the different tastes of individuals.
  6. Wholly what is expressed; colloquially downright, entire, outright.
    Good lord, you've built up a positive arsenal of weaponry here.
  7. Characterized by the existence or presence of qualities or features, rather than by their absence.
    The box was not empty – I felt some positive substance within it.
  8. Characterized by the presence of features which support a hypothesis.
    The results of our experiment are positive.
  9. Characterized by affirmation, constructiveness, or influence for the better; favourable.
    He has a positive outlook on life.
    The first-night reviews were largely positive.
  10. (chiefly philosophy) Actual, real, concrete.
  11. (photography) Of a visual image, true to the original in light, shade and colour values.
    A positive photograph can be developed from a photographic negative.
  12. (physics) Having more protons than electrons.
    A cation is a positive ion as it has more protons than electrons.
  13. (mathematics) Of number, greater than zero.
  14. (slang) HIV positive.

Antonyms

Derived terms

Noun

Singular positive

Plural positives

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) An adjective or adverb in the positive degree.
  5. (photography) A positive image; one that displays true colors and shades, as opposed to a negative.

Derived terms

Translations

thing capable of being affirmed
favourable point or characteristic
thing having a positive value
adjective or adverb in the positive degree
  • Russian: положительная степень ru(ru) (položítel’naja st'ép'en’) f.
  • Spanish: positivo es(es) m.
  • Swedish: positiv sv(sv) n.
photography: a positive image
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

French

Adjective

positive

  1. Feminine form of positif.

Italian

Adjective

positive pl.

  1. Feminine form of positivo.

 

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