negative

negative:

see photographic processing.

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The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Negative

 

in black-and-white photography and cinematography, an image formed by grains of metallic silver in which the photographic blackening is inverse to the brightness of details of the object being photographed. The brighter the detail, the greater its blackening in the reproduced image. In color photography, the image of the object being photographed is formed by the pigments whose colors are complementary to the colors of the parts of the object (yellow is complementary to blue, purple to green, light blue to red, and so on).

A negative is an intermediate image of the object in a two-stage process; it is used to obtain a positive. In some cases a negative can be the final image—for example, in recording spectra for spectral analysis. The quality of a negative is judged by its optical density, its degree of contrast, and its graininess. For color negatives the color balance (matching of colored images) is also important. A negative is considered normal if the positives printed from it have a realistic appearance and show easily discernible details.

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Negative

 

in grammar, a word or affix indicating the absence of an object (u menia net knigi,“I do not have the book”), of qualitative attributes of an object (etot chelovek ne star,“this person is not old”), or of actions or states (ia ne pishu,“I am not writing”; ia ne spliu,“I am not sleeping”). A word-sentence expressing disagreement with an utterance (net! “no!”) is also a negative.

Languages express negatives in various ways. Separate words are used in the case of the Russian net and ne, the German nein and nicht, the English “no” and “not,” and the French non and ne ‖ pas. Word-forming affixes may also be used, as the nein the Russian nebol’shoi (“not large,” “small”), the bez- in the Russian bezdetnyi (“childless”), the un- in the German unbekannt (“unknown”), the “un-” in the English “unpleasant,” or the “in-” in the English “invisible.” Negatives may also be expressed by morphological forms in inflection. Negative affixes are used in the Turkic languages, as in the Tatar ëshlim (“I am working”), contrasted to ëshlämim (“I am not working”). Negative verbs are used in certain Finno-Ugric languages, as exemplified by the Zyrian me og mung (“I am not going”). English uses a negative analytical verb form in a sentence such as “I do not see.”

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

negative

[′neg·əd·iv]

(electricity)

Having a negative charge.

(graphic arts)

The image on film in which the dark tones of the original appear transparent, and the light tones appear black and opaque. Also known as reversed image.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

negative

As used in air traffic control terminology, it means, “No,” or “Permission not granted,” or “That is not correct.”

An Illustrated Dictionary of Aviation Copyright © 2005 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

negative

1. Biology indicating movement or growth away from a particular stimulus

2. Med (of the results of a diagnostic test) indicating absence of the disease or condition for which the test was made

3. another word for minus

4. Physics

a. (of an electric charge) having the same polarity as the charge of an electron

b. (of a body, system, ion, etc.) having a negative electric charge; having an excess of electrons

c. (of a point in an electric circuit) having a lower electrical potential than some other point with an assigned zero potential

5. short for electronegative

6. of or relating to a photographic negative

7. Logic (of a categorial proposition) denying the satisfaction by the subject of the predicate, as in some men are irrational; no pigs have wings

8. Astrology of, relating to, or governed by the signs of the zodiac of the earth and water classifications, which are thought to be associated with a receptive passive nature

9. short for Rh negative

10. Photog a piece of photographic film or a plate, previously exposed and developed, showing an image that, in black-and-white photography, has a reversal of tones. In colour photography the image is in complementary colours to the subject so that blue sky appears yellow, green grass appears purple, etc.

11. Physics a negative object, such as a terminal or a plate in a voltaic cell

12. a quantity less than zero or a quantity to be subtracted

13. Logic a negative proposition

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005