noun
positive
A photographic image with light and dark areas matching the original scene.
The photographer makes a positive from the negative.
Etymology
Photography contrasts positive with negative. The positive restores the scene’s ordinary arrangement of light and dark, rather than reversing it as a negative does.
More examples
- The archive contains both negatives and positives.
- She inspected the finished positive under a lamp.
- The process produced a clear photographic positive.
Forms
positive · positives
Similar words
- A photographic reproduction that may be a positive.