negation Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a negative statement; a statement that is a refusal or denial of some other statement
  2. noun the speech act of negating
  3. noun (logic) a proposition that is true if and only if another proposition is false

WordNet

Ne*ga"tion noun
Etymology
L. negatio, fr. negare to say no, to deny; ne not + the root of aio I say; cf. Gr. , Skr. ah to say; cf. F. négation. See No, adv., and cf. Adage, Deny, Renegade.
Definitions
  1. The act of denying; assertion of the nonreality or untruthfulness of anything; declaration that something is not, or has not been, or will not be; denial; -- the opposite of affirmation.
    Our assertions and negations should be yea and nay. Rogers.
  2. (Logic) Description or definition by denial, exclusion, or exception; statement of what a thing is not, or has not, from which may be inferred what it is or has.

Webster 1913