negation

What it means

1. uncountableThe act of negating something.

   As an isolating language Belter Creole is rich in particles. Particles are used to indicate both negation and interrogation: na is the negative particle and it is placed before the verb

   2021 October 5, Gessica Puccini, “Lang Belta: the Belter language from SYFY/Amazon’s The Expanse”, in Lingoblog

2. countableA denial or contradiction.

   But it pleased her to play on my passion / And whet me to pleadings / That won from her mirthful negations / And scornings undue.

   1909, Thomas Hardy, The Flirt's Tragedy

3. countablehuman sciencesA proposition which is the contradictory of another proposition and which can be obtained from that other proposition by the appropriately placed addition, or insertion, of the word "not". (Or, in symbolic logic, by prepending that proposition with the symbol for the logical operator "not".)

   You get the negation of a proposition if you insert "not" (or some equivalent expression) into it in such a way as to form a contradictory of it.

   2001, Mark Sainsbury, chapter 1, in Logical Forms — An Introduction to Philosophical Logic, 2nd edition, Blackwell Publishing, →ISBN, §4, page 19

In a sentence

As an isolating language Belter Creole is rich in particles. Particles are used to indicate both negation and interrogation: na is the negative particle and it is placed before the verb

2021 October 5, Gessica Puccini, “Lang Belta: the Belter language from SYFY/Amazon’s The Expanse”, in Lingoblog

Where it comes from

1. Latinnegātiō“a denial; negative word”
2. Old Frenchnegacion
3. Middle Englishnegacioun
4. Englishnegation

From Middle English negacioun, from Old French negacion, from Latin negātiō (“a denial; negative word”). Morphologically negate + -ion.