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# negative

adjective (negative, more negative); noun (a negative, negatives)

«negative» in the English dictionary: everyday and in Jewish tradition — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A negative number is less than zero, like -3, written with a minus sign. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/negative/#m1)
2. Negative means saying or meaning "no", like a negative answer. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/negative/#m2)
3. Negative means bad, unhelpful or gloomy: a negative attitude. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/negative/#m3)
4. A negative test result means the thing tested for was not found. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/negative/#m4)
5. In science, negative is one end of a battery or a kind of electric charge (-). [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/negative/#m5)
6. A negative is an old film photo where light and dark are swapped. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/negative/#m6)
7. Negative can also mean the reverse or opposite side of something. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/negative/#m7)

### In the lessons

In maths: negative numbers on a number line, temperatures below zero, money owed. In science: positive and negative terminals and charges. In everyday life: a negative result on a test is often good news. In grammar: a negative sentence has "not" or "no". Phrases: negative number, in the negative, negative feedback, double negative.

### Examples

- -5 is a negative number. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/negative/#x1)
- The temperature was negative 4 degrees overnight. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/negative/#x2)
- Her answer was negative: she said no. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/negative/#x3)
- Try not to be so negative about the test. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/negative/#x4)
- The COVID test came back negative, so he could go to school. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/negative/#x5)
- Connect the wire to the negative end of the battery. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/negative/#x6)
- "I don't know nothing" is a double negative. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/negative/#x7)
- Any number times a negative number changes its sign. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/negative/#x8)
- Below zero on the thermometer, the numbers are negative. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/negative/#x9)
- The Holy Water which destroys the Fiend is merely a Christian form of the "Water of Death," viewed in its negative aspect. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/negative/#x10)

### Note

Opposite: positive. Maths rules: negative + negative is more negative; a negative times a negative is positive; -3 is smaller than -1. Trap: a "negative" medical result usually means good news. Trap: "minus" is the operation; "negative" is the kind of number, though people say "minus 5" for -5.

## In Jewish tradition

In Sefer Yetzirah, "negative" is one of the three opposing principles, balanced by the "affirmative", with a third that equalizes them.

**Interpretation.** The commentators read the three as a pattern of balance in creation: merit, guilt and the one that settles between them. They link it with the three mother letters.

### Examples

- There are three of which every one of them stands by itself; one is in the affirmative, the other in the negative and one equalizes them. (Sefer Yetzirah, Kalisch 1877) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/N/negative/#x1)

### Note

Opposite: positive. Maths rules: negative + negative is more negative; a negative times a negative is positive; -3 is smaller than -1. Trap: a "negative" medical result usually means good news. Trap: "minus" is the operation; "negative" is the kind of number, though people say "minus 5" for -5.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «negative» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/N/negative/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«negative» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/negative.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of «negative» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/N/negative/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«negative» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/judaism/w/negative.html) on Mova free.