noun / adjective
negative
A photographic image with light and dark reversed.
The photographer examines the negative against a light.
Etymology
Photography uses negative for an image whose tonal values reverse those of the subject. The ordinary idea of opposition becomes a precise contrast between light and dark.
More examples
- Several negatives were stored in sleeves.
- The negative image reverses light and dark.
- She made a print from the negative.
Forms
negative · negatives
Similar words
- positive
- An image with the usual relationship of light and dark.