The Collaborative International Dictionary
Electro-negative \E*lec`tro-neg"a*tive\, n. (Chem. & Physics) A body which passes to the positive pole in electrolysis; an anion.
Electro-negative \E*lec`tro-neg"a*tive\, Electronegative \E*lec`tro*neg"a*tive\, a. (Chem. & Physics)
Having the property of being attracted by an electro-positive body, or a tendency to pass to the positive pole in electrolysis, by the law that opposite electricities attract each other. Contrasted with neutral and electropositive
Negative; nonmetallic; acidic; -- opposed to positive, metallic, or basic.
(Physics) carrying a negative electrical charge.
(Chem. and Physics) having a tendency to take up electrons and form negative ions; having a relatively positive electrode potential.
Usage examples of "electro-negative".
It was thus that man in this state of consciousness was compelled to picture the foundation of the physical universe as being made up of gravity and electricity, as we meet them in the modern picture of the atom, with its heavy electro-positive nucleus and the virtually weightless electro-negative electrons moving round it.