Positive Definition

pŏzĭ-tĭv
positives
adjective
Formally or arbitrarily set; conventional; artificial.
A positive law.
Webster's New World
Characterized by or displaying certainty, acceptance, or affirmation.
A positive answer; positive criticism.
American Heritage
Having the mind set or settled; confident; assured.
A positive person.
Webster's New World
Desirable, admirable, or beneficial.
A woman with many positive qualities; the positive features of this new software.
American Heritage
Tending in the direction regarded as that of increase, progress, etc.
Clockwise motion is positive.
Webster's New World
noun
positives
Something positive, as a degree, quality, condition, etc.
Webster's New World
An affirmative element or characteristic.
American Heritage
A quantity greater than zero.
American Heritage
A positive electric charge.
American Heritage
A photographic image in which the lights and darks appear as they do in nature.
American Heritage

Other Word Forms of Positive

Noun

Singular:
positive
Plural:
positives

Origin of Positive

  • Middle English having a specified quality from Old French positif from Latin positīvus formally laid down from positus past participle of pōnere to place apo- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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

    From Wiktionary

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