positive

pos•i•tive

[[t]ˈpɒz ɪ tɪv[/t]] adj.

1) confident in opinion or assertion; sure:

He is positive that he'll win[/ex]

2) cvb showing or expressing approval or agreement; favorable:

a positive reaction to the speech[/ex]

3) cv gram. expressing or containing an assertion or affirmation; affirmative:

a positive answer[/ex]

4) emphasizing what is laudable, hopeful, or to the good; constructive:

a positive attitude[/ex]

5) explicitly or emphatically stated, stipulated, or expressed; definite:

a positive denial[/ex]

6) admitting of no question; incontrovertible:

positive proof[/ex]

7) overconfident or dogmatic

8) without relation to or comparison with other things; not relative or comparative; absolute

9) inf downright; out-and-out:

a positive genius[/ex]

10) not speculative or theoretical; practical:

a positive approach to the problem[/ex]

11) possessing an actual force, being, existence, etc

12) pho Philos.

a) constructive and sure, rather than skeptical

b) concerned with or based on matters of experience:

positive philosophy[/ex]

13) consisting in or characterized by the presence or possession of distinguishing or marked qualities or features (opposed to negative)

14) noting the presence of such qualities, as a term

15) measured or proceeding in a direction assumed as beneficial, progressive, or auspicious:

a positive trend[/ex]

16) determined by enactment or convention; arbitrarily laid down:

positive laws[/ex]

17) elm

a) noting or pertaining to the electricity in a body or substance that is deficient in electrons

b) indicating a point in a circuit that has a higher potential than that of another point, the current flowing from the point of higher potential to the point of lower potential

18) elm of, pertaining to, or noting the north pole of a magnet

19) chem. (of a chemical element or group) tending to lose electrons and become positively charged; basic

20) med

a) (of blood, affected tissue, etc.) showing the presence of disease

b) (of a diagnostic test) indicating the presence of the disease, condition, etc., tested for

c) (of a person) diagnosed as having a specified disease or medical condition

21) math. noting a numerical quantity greater than zero

22) gram. of or designating the initial degree of grammatical comparison, used with reference to the simple, base form of an adjective or adverb, as good or smoothly

Compare comparative 4) superlative 2)

23) (of government) assuming control or regulation of activities beyond those involved merely with the maintenance of law and order

24) bio Biol. oriented or moving toward the focus of excitation:

a positive tropism[/ex]

25) pht of or designating a photographic print or transparency showing the brightness values as they are in the subject

26) something positive

27) a positive quality or characteristic

28) a positive quantity or symbol

29) gram.

a) the positive degree in grammatical comparison

b) the positive form of an adjective or adverb

30) pht a positive photographic image, as on a print or transparency

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Etymology: 1250–1300; ME positif (< MF) < L positīvus. pos′i•tive•ness, n.