neg-, ne-

1. To give up or to surrender: The King abnegated his throne to his son.
2. To deny something to oneself; to restrain, especially from indulging in some pleasure: The minister of the church abnegated the material luxuries of life.

When Agnes Marcia became a nun after the deaths of her son and husband in an auto accident, she was abnegating a life of comfort and ease in order to dedicate her life to God.

Indulging in an ice cream sundae abnegates the healthful effects of having a salad for lunch.

Because Lucy wants to lose weight, she is abnegating the consumption of so much food during her meals.

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1. The renunciation of a person's own interests in favor of the interests of others: Some religions have days of fasting and so abnegation involves the giving up of all food or anything a person likes to eat in order to follow the rules and requirements of his or her beliefs.

The vice principal's abnegation of her position to allow for the promotion of a younger person was admired by all.

The Board of Directors was faced with a couple of uncertainties regarding the abnegations of the entire staff at the shelter for women.

Samuel's sudden abnegation of a wild life to become a Christian missionary was a great surprise for everyone who knew him.

2. The denial and rejection of a doctrine or a belief: There are those who have an abnegation of the existence of God.
3. Etymology: from Latin abnegare, "to refuse, to deny"; from ab-, "off, away from" + negare, "to deny". © ALL rights are reserved.

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Someone who gives up or who relinquishes or renounces something: In order to reduce his weight, Matthew has become an abnegator of sweets and midnight snacks after having eaten a previous dinner.

Abnormality of a person's composition in which one or more parts disturb the total operating condition of an organism: In an entirely healthy neurological organism, the various parts are integrated in such a way that they promote the total function of the body, while in bionegativity, or an abnormal situation, the integration is unbalanced or diminished as one or more parts slow down or interfere with the normal activity which promotes the total function.

A denial or a contradiction to comply with a request or instruction to do something: When Mary's mother asked her to clean up her room, Mary's denegation was a simple refusal saying that she had more important things to tend to!

1. A reference to something that is possible to contradict or to declare as being untrue: Shirley's neighbor made deniable accusations that the volume on her TV was turned up much too high every evening.
2. Relating to an issue which is painful and sad, but is actually not true or real: The tragic news was deniable regarding Jane's husband to have died the day before, because he was at work the very next day!

1. A refusal to comply with or to satisfy a request: His denial to help out with the preparations of the farewell party caused much surprise among the staff.
2. A rejection to accept the truth of a statement or allegation: After reading the letter saying that he had to pay the outstanding amount immediately, Jack sent off a denial, contradicting the claim as not official.
3. In law, the opposition by a defendant of an allegation of the plaintiff: Mr. Jones was accused of committing the robbery, but his answer was a denial, stating that the accusations were not true because he was far away on holiday during that time!
4. A rejection to acknowledge or to believe something, such as a belief: When Nancy was attending church with her girlfriend, she listened to the minister, but her denial of Christ, in the way the minister presented him, could not be swayed.
5. In psychology, an unconscious defense mechanism characterized by refusal to acknowledge painful realities, thoughts, or feelings: Jane's terrible experience with her parents resulted in a denial or defense process that negated grievous and harrowing truths.
6. The act of disowning or disavowing; repudiation: The authority's denial of refusing to accept Janet's passport was a complete surprise because it was still valid!!
7. Abstinence; the quality of doing without: By refraining from drinking wine and beer, Jeffrey practiced denial.

1. A term used to describe the position of governments, political parties, business groups, interest groups, or individuals who reject propositions on which a scientific or scholarly consensus exists: Some firms that are only interested in profits practice denialism when their interests and earnings are in danger of climate change, for example.
2. Choosing to contradict a reality as a way to avoid a disturbing actuality based on an empirically verifiable truth: AIDS denialism describes the disaffirmation of the facts which have been proven by relying on observation and tests.
3. An essentially irrational action that withholds validation of an historical experience or event: There are some people who still today use the term Holocaust denialism to present their views by refusing to admit that this part of the past ever occurred.

Apparently the term denialism is a neologism created by Michael Specter (a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1998) for his book, Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives, published in 2009; Penguin Press; New York; in which Specter reveals that Americans have come to mistrust institutions and especially the institution of science more today than ever before.

1. Someone who disagrees with an assertion in a controversial political debate: Judy turned out to be a denialist in the local government when she opposed the statement made by the chairman to be unsatisfactory and incorrect concerning the kindergarten that was to be built.
2. Anyone who has increasingly come to maintain personal beliefs even in the face of solid scientific evidence: A denialist refers to a person who opposes a range of issues from childhood vaccines to genetically modified foods, maintaining that living in a totally natural and healthier way is better.

Referring to a negation in a political dispute, conflict, or contention: In the denialist movement to activate people to save the environment, as apposed to so many businesses and politicians, there were not only many young people, but many parents and grown-ups as well.

1. Someone who opposes or declares that something is not true: Deniers are individuals who take pleasure in disputes.

One political person is a climate change denier who evidently doesn't understand that this has scientifically been proven as taking place.
2. Anyone who refuses to let someone have or to do something: Since her mom was a denier, Susan wasn't allowed to play outside until her homework was done!
3. A person who refuses to gratify his or her own needs or desires: Grace turned out to be her own denier when she decided not to go on the cruise around the Mediterranean Sea because she didn't want to get into debt because of it.

1. To declare that something is not true or is untrue; to contradict: When a friend said that Jane was 50 years old, Jane denied this and said that she was already 52!
2. To refuse to let someone have or to do something: Tim's father denied him the possibility of taking the car because he needed it to go to work that day.
3. To refuse to acknowledge or to recognize someone; to disavow: When the police showed Mike the photo of the culprit, Mike denied having seen him in the shop where the shooting took place.
4. Etymology: from Old French denier, from Latin denegare, from de-, "away" + negare, "to refuse, to say 'no' "; from Old Latin nec, "not", from an Italic base nek-, "not".

1. Charged with negative electricity: The electronegative situations result in the attraction of positively charged material and the repulsion of negatively charged ones.
2. Having the power to attract electrons: Something is likely to become negatively charged when it is combined with a less electronegative matter.

Nonmetals like glass and wooden objects are considered to be electronegative materials.

Electric charge is the physical property of matter that causes it to experience a force when placed in an electromagnetic field. There are two-types of electric charge; positive and negative (commonly carried by protons and electrons respectively). Like charges repel and unlike attract.

1. To declare that something does not exist: Bruce tried to negate, or deny, his love for Bernice, but he just couldn't forget her!
2. To destroy, to reverse, or to make ineffective: Mark's uncle works for a company in which this year's losses negate last year's profits. © ALL rights are reserved.

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1. The contradiction or denial of something: When someone shakes his or her head left and right, it is a signal of negation.
2. The absence or opposite of some positive thing or quality: Darkness is the negation of sunshine.