positive (adj.)
early 14c., originally a legal term meaning “formally laid down, decreed or legislated by authority” (opposed to natural), from Old French positif (13c.) and directly from Latin positivus “settled by agreement, positive” (opposed to naturalis “natural”), from positus, past participle of ponere “put, place” (see position (n.)).
The sense of “absolute” is from mid-15c. Meaning in philosophy of “dealing only with facts” is from 1590s. Sense broadened to “expressed without qualification” (1590s), then, of persons, “confident in opinion” (1660s). The meaning “possessing definite characters of its own” is by 1610s. The mathematical use for “greater than zero” is by 1704. Psychological sense of “concentrating on what is constructive and good” is recorded from 1916. Positive thinking is attested from 1953. The sense in electricity is from 1755.
There are probably no two bodies differing in nature which are not capable of exhibiting electrical phaenomena, either by contact, pressure, or friction ; but the first substances in which the property was observed, were vitreous and resinous bodies ; and hence the different states were called states of resinous and vitreous electricity ; and resinous bodies bear the same relation to flint glass, as silk. The terms, negative and positive electricity, have been likewise adopted, on the idea, that the phaenomena depend upon a peculiar subtile fluid, which becomes in excess in the vitreous, and deficient in the resinous bodies ; and which is conceived by its motion and transfer, to produce the electrical phaenomena. [Sir Humphry Davy, “Elements of Chemical Philosophy,” London, 1812]
positive (n.)
posit (v.)
1520s, originally in grammar, from positive (adj.). Sense of “that which can be affirmed, reality” is from 1610s. Sense in photography (opposite of negative (n.)) is by 1853.
“to assert, lay down as a position or principle,” 1690s, from Latin positus “placed, situated, standing, planted,” past participle of ponere “put, place” (see position (n.)). Earlier in a literal sense of “dispose, range, place in relation to other objects” (1640s). Related: Posited; positing.
position (n.)
late 14c., posicioun, as a term in logic and philosophy, “statement of belief, the laying down of a proposition or thesis,” from Old French posicion “position, supposition” (Modern French position) and directly from Latin positionem (nominative positio) “act or fact of placing, situation, position, affirmation,” noun of state from past-participle stem of ponere “put, place.” Watkins tentatively identifies this as from PIE *po-s(i)nere, from *apo- “off, away” (see apo-) + *sinere “to leave, let” (see site). But de Vaan identifies it as from Proto-Italic *posine-, from PIE *tkine- “to build, live,” from root *tkei- “to settle, dwell, be home” (see home (n.)).
The meaning “place occupied by a person or thing” especially a proper or appropriate place, is from 1540s; hence “status, standing, social rank” (1832); “official station, employment” (1890). The meaning “manner in which some physical thing is arranged or posed, aggregate of the spatial relations of a body or figure to other such bodies or figures” is recorded by 1703; specifically in reference to dance steps, 1778, to sexual intercourse, 1883. Military sense of “place occupied or to be occupied” is by 1781.
positively (adv.)
mid-15c., “in a definite way, expressly,” from positive (adj.) + -ly (2). Meaning “absolutely” is from 1777.
positivity (n.)
positiveness in any sense, 1650s, from positive (adj.) + -ity.
positiveness (n.)
1670s, “undoubting assurance,” from positive (adj.) + -ness.
position (v.)
1670s, “to assume a position” (intransitive), from position (n.). Transitive sense of “place or put in relation to other objects,” now the usual meaning, is recorded from 1817. Related: Positioned; positioning.
positional (adj.)
“of or pertaining to position,” 1570s, from position (n.) + -al (1).
positivism (n.)
1847, the philosophy, based on actual or absolute knowledge, of Auguste Comte (1798-1857), who published “Philosophie positive” in 1830; see positive (adj.) in the “just the facts” sense + -ism. A philosophy based on positive facts and observable phenomena and abandoning inquiry into causes or ultimate origins. Related: Positivist; Positivistic.
Source: O
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