Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Negative \Neg"a*tive\, a. [F. n['e]gatif, L. negativus, fr.
   negare to deny. See {Negation}.]
   1. Denying; implying, containing, or asserting denial,
      negation or refusal; returning the answer no to an inquiry
      or request; refusing assent; as, a negative answer; a
      negative opinion; -- opposed to {affirmative}.

            If thou wilt confess, Or else be impudently
            negative.                             --Shak.

            Denying me any power of a negative voice. --Eikon
                                                  Basilike.

            Something between an affirmative bow and a negative
            shake.                                --Dickens.

   2. Not positive; without affirmative statement or
      demonstration; indirect; consisting in the absence of
      something; privative; as, a negative argument; a negative
      morality; negative criticism.

            There in another way of denying Christ, . . . which
            is negative, when we do not acknowledge and confess
            him.                                  --South.

   3. (Logic) Asserting absence of connection between a subject
      and a predicate; as, a negative proposition.

   4. (Photog.) Of or pertaining to a picture upon glass or
      other material, in which the lights and shades of the
      original, and the relations of right and left, are
      reversed.

   5. (Chem.) Metalloidal; nonmetallic; -- contracted with
      positive or basic; as, the nitro group is negative.

   Note: This word, derived from electro-negative, is now
         commonly used in a more general sense, when acidiferous
         is the intended signification.

   {Negative crystal}.
      (a) A cavity in a mineral mass, having the form of a
          crystal.
      (b) A crystal which has the power of negative double
          refraction. See {refraction}.

   {negative electricity} (Elec.), the kind of electricity which
      is developed upon resin or ebonite when rubbed, or which
      appears at that pole of a voltaic battery which is
      connected with the plate most attacked by the exciting
      liquid; -- formerly called {resinous electricity}. Opposed
      to {positive electricity}. Formerly, according to
      Franklin's theory of a single electric fluid, negative
      electricity was supposed to be electricity in a degree
      below saturation, or the natural amount for a given body.
      see {Electricity}.

   {Negative eyepiece}. (Opt.) see under {Eyepiece}.

   {Negative quantity} (Alg.), a quantity preceded by the
      negative sign, or which stands in the relation indicated
      by this sign to some other quantity. See {Negative sign}
      (below).

   {Negative rotation}, right-handed rotation. See
      {Right-handed}, 3.

   {Negative sign}, the sign -, or {minus} (opposed in
      signification to +, or {plus}), indicating that the
      quantity to which it is prefixed is to be subtracted from
      the preceding quantity, or is to be reckoned from zero or
      cipher in the opposite direction to that of quanties
      having the sign plus either expressed or understood; thus,
      in a - b, b is to be substracted from a, or regarded as
      opposite to it in value; and -10[deg] on a thermometer
      means 10[deg] below the zero of the scale.

Negative \Neg"a*tive\, n. [Cf. F. n['e]gative.]
   1. A proposition by which something is denied or forbidden; a
      conception or term formed by prefixing the negative
      particle to one which is positive; an opposite or
      contradictory term or conception.

            This is a known rule in divinity, that there is no
            command that runs in negatives but couches under it
            a positive duty.                      --South.

   2. A word used in denial or refusal; as, not, no.

   Note: In Old England two or more negatives were often joined
         together for the sake of emphasis, whereas now such
         expressions are considered ungrammatical, being chiefly
         heard in iliterate speech. A double negative is now
         sometimes used as nearly or quite equivalent to an
         affirmative.

               No wine ne drank she, neither white nor red.
                                                  --Chaucer.

               These eyes that never did nor never shall So much
               as frown on you.                   --Shak.

   3. The refusal or withholding of assents; veto.

            If a kind without his kingdom be, in a civil sense,
            nothing, then . . . his negative is as good as
            nothing.                              --Milton.

   4. That side of a question which denies or refuses, or which
      is taken by an opposing or denying party; the relation or
      position of denial or opposition; as, the question was
      decided in the negative.

   5. (Photog.) A picture upon glass or other material, in which
      the light portions of the original are represented in some
      opaque material (usually reduced silver), and the dark
      portions by the uncovered and transparent or
      semitransparent ground of the picture.

   Note: A negative is chiefly used for producing photographs by
         means of the sun's light passing through it and acting
         upon sensitized paper, thus producing on the paper a
         positive picture.

Negative \Neg"a*tive\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Negatived}; p. pr. &
   vb. n. {Negativing}.]
   1. To prove unreal or intrue; to disprove.

            The omission or infrequency of such recitals does
            not negative the existence of miracles. --Paley.

   2. To reject by vote; to refuse to enact or sanction; as, the
      Senate negatived the bill.

   3. To neutralize the force of; to counteract.

Demonstration \Dem`on*stra"tion\, n. [L. demonstratio: cf. F.
   d['e]monstration.]
   1. The act of demonstrating; an exhibition; proof;
      especially, proof beyond the possibility of doubt;
      indubitable evidence, to the senses or reason.

            Those intervening ideas which serve to show the
            agreement of any two others are called ``proofs;''
            and where agreement or disagreement is by this means
            plainly and clearly perceived, it is called
            demonstration.                        --Locke.

   2. An expression, as of the feelings, by outward signs; a
      manifestation; a show.

            Did your letters pierce the queen to any
            demonstration of grief?               --Shak.

            Loyal demonstrations toward the prince. --Prescott.

   3. (Anat.) The exhibition and explanation of a dissection or
      other anatomical preparation.

   4. (Mil.) a decisive exhibition of force, or a movement
      indicating an attack.

   5. (Logic) The act of proving by the syllogistic process, or
      the proof itself.

   6. (Math.) A course of reasoning showing that a certain
      result is a necessary consequence of assumed premises; --
      these premises being definitions, axioms, and previously
      established propositions.

   {Direct}, or {Positive}, {demonstration} (Logic & Math.), one
      in which the correct conclusion is the immediate sequence
      of reasoning from axiomatic or established premises; --
      opposed to

   {Indirect}, or {Negative}, {demonstration} (called also
      {reductio ad absurdum}), in which the correct conclusion
      is an inference from the demonstration that any other
      hypothesis must be incorrect.

Eyepiece \Eye"piece`\, n. (Opt.)
   The lens, or combination of lenses, at the eye end of a
   telescope or other optical instrument, through which the
   image formed by the mirror or object glass is viewed.

   {Collimating eyepiece}. See under {Collimate}.

   {Negative}, or {Huyghenian}, {eyepiece}, an eyepiece
      consisting of two plano-convex lenses with their curved
      surfaces turned toward the object glass, and separated
      from each other by about half the sum of their focal
      distances, the image viewed by the eye being formed
      between the two lenses. it was devised by Huyghens, who
      applied it to the telescope. Campani applied it to the
      microscope, whence it is sometimes called {Campani's
      eyepiece}.

   {Positive eyepiece}, an eyepiece consisting of two
      plano-convex lenses placed with their curved surfaces
      toward each other, and separated by a distance somewhat
      less than the focal distance of the one nearest eye, the
      image of the object viewed being beyond both lenses; --
      called also, from the name of the inventor, {Ramsden's
      eyepiece}.

   {terrestrial}, or {Erecting eyepiece}, an eyepiece used in
      telescopes for viewing terrestrial objects, consisting of
      three, or usually four, lenses, so arranged as to present
      the image of the object viewed in an erect position.

Source : WordNet®

negative
     adj 1: characterized by or displaying negation or denial or
            opposition or resistance; having no positive features;
            "a negative outlook on life"; "a colorless negative
            personality"; "a negative evaluation"; "a negative
            reaction to an advertising campaign" [ant: {neutral},
            {positive}]
     2: reckoned in a direction opposite to that regarded as
        positive
     3: having a negative electric charge; "electrons are negative"
        [syn: {electronegative}] [ant: {neutral}, {positive}]
     4: expressing or consisting of a negation or refusal or denial
        [ant: {affirmative}]
     5: having the quality of something harmful or unpleasant; "ran
        a negative campaign"; "delinquents retarded by their
        negative outlook on life"
     6: not indicating the presence of microorganisms or disease or
        a specific condition; "the HIV test was negative" [syn: {disconfirming}]
        [ant: {positive}]
     7: less than zero; "a negative number"
     8: designed or tending to discredit, especially without
        positive or helpful suggestions; "negative criticism"
        [syn: {damaging}]
     9: involving disadvantage or harm; "minus (or negative)
        factors" [syn: {minus}]

negative
     v : vote against; refuse to endorse; refuse to assent; "The
         President vetoed the bill" [syn: {veto}, {blackball}]

negative
     n 1: a reply of denial; "he answered in the negative" [ant: {affirmative}]
     2: a piece of photographic film showing an image with black and
        white tones reversed