negation

American  

[ni-gey-shuhn] / nɪˈgeɪ ʃən /

noun

negations plural

1. the act of denying.

   He shook his head in negation of the charge.

2. a denial.

   a negation of one's former beliefs.

3. something that is without existence; nonentity.

4. the absence or opposite of something that is actual, positive, or affirmative.

   Darkness is the negation of light.

5. a negative statement, idea, concept, doctrine, etc.; a contradiction, refutation, or rebuttal.

   a shameless lie that demands a negation.

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negation British  

/ nɪˈɡeɪʃən /

noun

1. the opposite or absence of something

2. a negative thing or condition

3. the act or an instance of negating

4. logic

   1. the operator that forms one sentence from another and corresponds to the English not

   2. a sentence so formed. It is usually written –p, ~p, ̄p or ⇁ p , where p is the given sentence, and is false when the given sentence is true, and true when it is false

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• negationist
  noun
• nonnegation
  noun
• renegation
  noun
• negational
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• negations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of negation

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Latin negātiōn-, stem of negātiō “denial”; equivalent to negate + -ion

Explanation

A negation is a refusal or denial of something. If your friend thinks you owe him five dollars and you say that you don’t, your statement is a negation. A negation is a statement that cancels out or denies another statement or action. "I didn't kill the butler" could be a negation, along with "I don't know where the treasure is." The act of saying one of these statements is also a negation. Some negations can be good news, like “No, you don’t have a cavity” or “No, that report isn’t due today.”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

negation negations

Singh formally apologised to the nation in 2005 in parliament, saying the violence were "the negation of the concept of nationhood enshrined in our constitution".

From BBC ● Dec. 27, 2024

And my idea of degrowth is not a negation of technology.

From Salon ● May 3, 2024

“It wasn’t a negation of color. It was an acceptance. Because black encompasses all colors.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 6, 2024

A second method to steer humanity away from fossil fuel burning centers on a concept known as "undesign," the intentional negation of technology and consideration of alternatives that do not rely on labor-saving human inventions.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 15, 2024

Not all negation words begin with n; many haye the concept of negation tucked inside them, such as few, little, least, seldom, though, rarely, instead, doubt, deny, refute, avoid, and ignore.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

In a prepared statement, the company confirmed negations will resume next week and said it was pleased to go back and “resolve the few remaining open issues.”

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 19, 2023

Peace negations mediated by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia in the Saudi coastal town of Jeddah have all but broken down.

From Washington Times ● Jun. 27, 2023

"Naturally, when you are in contract negations, there is always going to be speculation and unless you hear it from me, that's what it is," Hamilton said.

From BBC ● May 25, 2023

It decided to lower the rate by 8.2% after nine months of negations.

From Reuters ● Aug. 12, 2022

The difficulty posed by negations has long been noted in style manuals.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

Related Words

• antithesis
• renunciation
• repudiation