Wordwyrt

positivism

/ˈpɒzətɪˌvɪzəm/PAH-zuh-tih-vih-zuhm
UK form converted from the US by rule · unchecked
/ˈpɑzətɪˌvɪzəm/PAH-zuh-tih-vih-zuhm

Meaningdevotion to the positive

Common meaning: a view that only observable facts count

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Journey through time

  1. Latinpositiuus‘settled, esp’source
  2. Frenchpositifsource
  3. Middle Englishpositifsource
  4. Englishpositive‘definite’
  5. Englishformed in English from positivepositivism‘a view that only observable facts count’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Formed in English from positive + -ism.

Dictionary: Skeat (1898), POSITIVE, p.458 · scan

Source words

Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app