v. t.
n. [ F. position, L. positio, fr. ponere, positum, to put, place; prob. for posino, fr. an old preposition used only in comp. (akin to Gr. &unr_;) + sinere to leave, let, permit, place. See Site, and cf. Composite, Compound, v., Depone, Deposit, Expound, Impostor, Opposite, Propound, Pose, v., Posit, Post, n. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
We have different prospects of the same thing, according to our different positions to it. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]
Let not the proof of any position depend on the positions that follow, but always on those which go before. I. Watts. [ 1913 Webster ]
Angle of position (Astron.),
Double position (Arith.),
Guns of position (Mil.),
Position finder (Mil.),
Position micrometer,
Single position (Arith.),
Strategic position (Mil.),
v. t. To indicate the position of; to place. [ R. ] Encyc. Brit. [ 1913 Webster ]
a. Of or pertaining to position. [ 1913 Webster ]
Ascribing unto plants positional operations. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]
a. [ OE. positif, F. positif, L. positivus. See Position. ]
Positive words, that he would not bear arms against King Edward's son. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]
In laws, that which is natural bindeth universally; that which is positive, not so. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]
Some positive, persisting fops we know,
That, if once wrong, will needs be always. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]
Positive crystals (Opt.),
Positive degree (Gram.),
Positive electricity (Elec),
Positive eyepiece.
Positive law.
Positive motion (Mach.),
Positive philosophy.
Positive pole.
Positive quantity (Alg.),
Positive rotation (Mech.),
Positive sign (Math.),
n.
adv. In a positive manner; absolutely; really; expressly; with certainty; indubitably; peremptorily; dogmatically; -- opposed to negatively. [ 1913 Webster ]
Good and evil which is removed may be esteemed good or evil comparatively, and positively simply. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]
Give me some breath, some little pause, my lord,
Before I positively speak herein. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]
I would ask . . . whether . . . the divine law does not positively require humility and meekness. Sprat. [ 1913 Webster ]
Positively charged
Positively electrified
n. The quality or state of being positive; reality; actualness; certainty; confidence; peremptoriness; dogmatism. See Positive, a. [ 1913 Webster ]
Positiveness, pedantry, and ill manners. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]
The positiveness of sins of commission lies both in the habitude of the will and in the executed act too; the positiveness of sins of omission is in the habitude of the will only. Norris. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. A system of philosophy originated by M. Auguste Comte, which deals only with positives. It excludes from philosophy everything but the natural phenomena or properties of knowable things, together with their invariable relations of coexistence and succession, as occurring in time and space. Such relations are denominated laws, which are to be discovered by observation, experiment, and comparison. This philosophy holds all inquiry into causes, both efficient and final, to be useless and unprofitable. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. A believer in positivism. --