positive

comparative more positive · superlative most positive · alternative +ve

1. Included, present, characterized by affirmation.
2. lawFormally laid down.First known use the 14th c.

   In laws, that which is natural bindeth universally; that which is positive, not so.

   1594, Richard Hooker, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie

3. Stated definitively and without qualification.First known use the 16th c.

   Positive words, that he would not bear arms against King Edward’s son.

   1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, […], London: […] W[illiam] Stansby for Matthew Lownes, and William Barret, →OCLC

4. Fully assured in opinion.First known use the 17th c.

   I’m absolutely positive you've spelt that wrong.

   Synonyms: certain, sure, wis · Antonyms: uncertain, unsure

5. mathematicsGreater than zero.First known use the 18th c.

   Antonyms: negative, nonpositive

6. sometimesmathematicsGreater than or equal to zero.

   a step 10 which judges whether each of the m amounts of differences in amount of voltage changes ΔHv1 to ΔHvm are positive (zero or greater than zero) or negative (less than zero): and […]

   1996 December 10, United States Patent and Trademark Office, “5,583,871: Method for high-speed charging of secondary batteries and apparatus therefor. Stewart N. Simmonds, Port Coquitlam, Canada, and Isamu Miyamoto, Tokyo, Japan, assignors to Datalink Corporation, Tokyo, Japan”, in Official Gazette of the United States Patent and Trademark Office: Patents^(https://books.google.com/books?id=Q2wbAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA1528&dq=%22positive+(zero+or+greater%22&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0#v=onepage&q=%22positive%20(zero%20or%20greater%22&f=false), volume 1193, numbers 1-2, page 1528

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   Notice that each time the calculator balance becomes positive (zero or greater), the dollar item that forces this balance to become positive is selected for examination. Since each of these dollar items is contained […]

   1987, Roger H. Hermanson, Robert H. Strawser, Auditing Theory and Practice^(https://books.google.com/books?id=Vh7yAAAAMAAJ&q=%22positive+(zero+or+greater%22&dq=%22positive+(zero+or+greater%22&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0), 4th edition, Irwin, →ISBN, page 323

   Synonyms: nonnegative · Antonyms: negative, nonpositive

7. Characterized by constructiveness or influence for the better.

   Not to conſent to the Enacting of ſuch a Law, which has no view beſide to general Good, unleſs another Law ſhall at the ſame time paſs, with no other view but that of advancing the Power of one Party alone; What is this but to claim a positive Voice as well as a negative?

   1701, [Jonathan Swift], “Chapter I”, in A Discourse of the Contests and Dissensions between the Nobles and the Commons in Athens and Rome, with the Consequences They Had upon Both Those States, London: […] John Nutt […], →OCLC, page 11

8. Overconfident, dogmatic.

   Some positive, persisting fops we know, That, if once wrong, will needs be always so.

   1711 May, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Criticism, London: […] W[illiam] Lewis […]; and sold by W[illiam] Taylor […], T[homas] Osborn[e] […], and J[ohn] Graves […], →OCLC

9. human sciencesActual, real, concrete, not theoretical or speculative.

   [I]f the privation be good, it followes not the former condition was evill, but lesse good; for the flower or blossome, is a positive good, although the remove of it to give place to the fruit, be a comparative good.

   1597, Francis [Bacon], “Of the Colours of Good and Evill, a Fragment”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland […], published 1632, →OCLC

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   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...

10. natural sciencesHaving more protons than electrons.

    A cation is a positive ion as it has more protons than electrons.

    Antonyms: negative

11. grammarDescribing the primary sense of an adjective, adverb or noun; not comparative, superlative, augmentative nor diminutive.

    ‘Better’ is an irregular comparative of the positive form ‘good’.

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

    positive knowledge

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    The idea of beauty is not positive, but depends on the different tastes of individuals.

    Synonyms: absolute

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

    The box was not empty – I felt some positive substance within it.

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    In other cases of moral alienation there will be found to have been more or less congenital moral defect, with maniacal exacerbations of positive moral insanity occurring perhaps at puberty, perhaps at the menstrual periods, perhaps after severe disappointment.

    1867, Henry Maudsley, The Physiology and Pathology of the Mind, New York: D. Appleton & Company, page 318

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

    The results of our experiment are positive.

16. Confirmed, straight-up.

    Ben […], who seems at first to be a likable guy but is actually a positive sexist.

    1986 April 19, Shelley Mains, “TV Shows Dykes as Yuppie "Gay Women"”, in Gay Community News, page 6

17. artsOf a visual image, true to the original in light, shade and colour values.

    A positive photograph can be developed from a photographic negative.

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

    The first-night reviews were largely positive.

    Synonyms: good, acceptable, agreeable, all right, amazing, as fine as Dick's hatband, awesome, beatific · Antonyms: bad, negative, abysmal, atrocious, awful, bad, chronic, coarse

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

    Good lord, you've built up a positive arsenal of weaponry here.

20. Optimistic.First known use the 20th c.

    He has a positive outlook on life.

21. chemistryelectropositive
22. chemistrybasic; metallic; not acid; opposed to negative, and said of metals, bases, and basic radicals.
23. slangHIV positive.

    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.

    quoted in 2013, William I. Johnston, HIV-Negative: How the Uninfected Are Affected by AIDS (page 145)

24. New AgejargonGood, desirable, healthful, pleasant, enjoyable.

    positive energy; positive thoughts, feelings or emotions

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    Negative feelings can be worked through and their energy converted into positive energy... In crisis, normal patterns of self-organization fail, resulting in anxiety (negative energy). Being open systems, people can exchange this energy with the environment and create positive energy for taking action...

    2009, Christopher Johns, Becoming a Reflective Practitioner, John Wiley & Sons, page 15

plural positives · alternative +ve

1. A thing capable of being affirmed; something real or actual.

   rating Positives by their Privatives

   1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London

2. A favourable point or characteristic.

   Not a bad situation when we weigh all the positives.

3. Something having a positive value in physics, such as an electric charge.
4. grammarA degree of comparison of adjectives and adverbs.
5. grammarAn adjective or adverb in the positive degree.
6. artsA positive image; one that displays true colors and shades, not their opposites or complements.

   Antonyms: negative

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