nef (nef)

[F., The long nef [of the church of St. Just in a] consists of a row of five cupolas, the cro one has on each side a single cupola deeper and broader than the others. Add is on, Remarks on Italy (ed. Bohn), I. 384. 2. An ornamental ve el used for the decoration of the table, having a form resembling a ship of the middle ages. Nefs were commonly pieces of valuable plate, and were set before the lord or master of the house, their use being to contain some of the table utensils especially appropriated to him, or sometimes to his guests. See cadenas . 3. At the present day, a ve el of any unusual and fantastic shape resembling more or le closely a ship or boat. A nef , a kind of cup, somewhat in form like a nautilus shell, executed in gold. Society of Arts Report. nefandt (nē-fand'), a. [= OF. nefande = Sp. Pg. It. nefando, Nefand abominations. Sheldon, Mirror of Antichrist, p. 198. in the dead abstraction of substance, in a pure identity that has no difference in itself, and from which no differ- ence can by any po ibility be evolved. The affirmation of universal evolution is in itself the negation of an "absolute commencement" of anything. H. Spencer , Prin. of Biol., App., p. 482. Japanese art is not merely the incomparable achieve- ment of certain harmonies in colour; it is the negation , the immolation, the annihilation of everything else. Fortnightly Rev., N. S., XLIII. 746. 2. A denial; a declaration that something is 3. The right or power of refusing a ent; a ve- not, or has not been, or will not be. Our a ertions and negations should be yea and nay; whatsoever is more than these is sin. D. Rogers . George Eliot , Mill on the Flo , v. 3. 3. The absence of that which is positive or affirmative; blankne ; emptine . I hate the black negation of the bier. Tennyson, Ancient Sage. Conversion by negation, in logic . See contraposition . S. Butler , To the Memory of Du Val. negationist (ne-ga's hon-ist), n. [ negation + To flourish o'er nefarious crimes, And cheat the world. IMG:content-1279.png:[blocks in formation] -ist.] One who denies or expre es negation; especially, one who simply denies beliefs com- monly held without a erting an opposite view. We thus perceive that the Skeptic is not the denier or dogmatic Negationist he is commonly held to be. negative (neg'a-tiv), a. and n. [= F. négat if = Pr. negatiu = Sp. Pg. It. negativo , neg a- tivus , that denies, negative, negare , pp. neg a- tus, deny: see negate .] I. a. 1. Expre ing or containing denial or negation: opposed to affirmative : as, a negative proposition. I saie againe that I weigh not two chips which way the wind bloweth, bicause I see no inconuenience that may insue either of the affirmatiue or negatiue opinion. Their Gouerment is an Anarchie; euery one obeying and commanding, the meanest person amongst them hauing a Negatiue in all their consultations. Purchas , Pilgrimage, p. 528. This man sits calculating varietie of excuses how he may grant least; as if his whole strength and royal tie were plac'd in a meer negative . Milton , Eikon ok las tes, xi. It was not stipulated that the King should give up his negative on acts of Parliament. Macaulay , Hallam's Const. Hist. 4. That side of a question which denies what the opposite side affirms; also, a decision or an answer expre ive of negation: as, the question was determined in the negative .-5. In photog ., a photographic image on gla or other suitable medium, in which the lights and shades are the opposite of those in nature. The negative is used chiefly as a plate from which to print positive impre ions on paper or other material. Its image presents natural high as more le opaque, ing or implying the answer “No” to a request: as, a negative answer.-3. Characterized by the tive or positive: as, a negative attitude; neg a- tive goodne . There is another way... of denying Christ, which is negative , when we do not acknowledge and confe him. The negative standard of goodne , which results at best in abstaining from evil rather than in doing good, and is only too apt to degenerate into something very like hy- pocrisy. H. N. Oxenham , Short Studies, p. 34. Christ would never hear of negative morality; "thou shalt" was ever his word, with which he superseded "thou shalt not." R. L. Stevens on, Scribner's Mag., IV. 765. 4. Having the power of stopping or restraining by refusing a ent or concurrence; imposing a veto. fraction . -Negative electricity. ( a ) According to Frank- lin's theory, that state of bodies in which they are deprived of some part of the electricity which they naturally con- tain. (b) Electricity developed by friction on resinous sub- stances, as by rubbing sealing-wax with silk or flannel; image. See the nouns. - Negative exponent. See pow- resinous electricity. - Negative evidence, eyepiece, er. Negative index of a logarithm. See logarithm . -Negative plate, the metal or equivalent placed in op- position to the positive in the voltaic battery. The neg a- tive may be coke, carbon, silver, platinum, or copper; the positive is usually zinc. - Negative pole of a magnet, the south-seeking pole. See magnet. - Negative pole of a voltaic battery, the extremity of the wire connected with the positive plate. Negative power. See power . - Neg- ative prescription, in Scots law. See prescription.- Negative proposition, in logic , a proposition which de- nies agreement between the subject and its predicate. - Negative quantities. See quantity . - Negative rad- F. H. Bradley , Ethical Studies, p. 118. negation (nē-gā'shon), n . [F. négation = Sp. negacion = Pg. neg ação = It. negazione , negatio (n-), denial, negare , pp. negatus , deny: see negate .] 1. The act of denying or of neg a- tiving; the opposite of the act of affirming. Des cartes was naturally led to regard error as more or le a negation , or rather privation. Veitch , Introd. to Des cartes's Method, p. lix. By his principle, that "determination is negation ," Spi its choice, and it chooses the negative . noza is driven, in spite of himself, to di olve everything pared. -Negative result of an experimental inquiry, the conclusion that nothing remarkable happens under the circumstances inquired into. - Negative servitude, sign, etc. See the nouns. - Negative well. Same as absorbing - well (which see, under absorb ). II. n. 1. A proposition expre ing a negation; a negative proposition. The positive and the negative are set before the mind for Edwards , Freedom of the Will, i, 1, The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: The Century dictionary negator