5. (Alg.) Positive; -- a term applied to quantities which are to be added, and opposed to negative, or such as are to be subtracted.
Af*firm"a*tive, n. 1. That which affirms as opposed to that which denies; an affirmative proposition; that side of question which affirms or maintains the proposition stated; -- opposed to negative; as, there were forty votes in the affirmative, and ten in the negative.
Whether there are such beings or not, 't is sufficient for my purpose that many have believed the affirmative.
Dryden.