Plural of positive; things that are good, favorable, or affirmative, or photographic images where light areas appear light.
From Latin 'positivus,' meaning 'formal' or 'express,' derived from 'ponere' (to place or put). The sense of 'affirmative' developed from things that are definitively placed or established.
In photography, a 'positive' is the opposite of a negative, but the word comes from the idea of something being 'put' or 'placed' there as concrete fact. Language often describes abstract ideas through photography.
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