Emily Dickinson Lexicon

POS'I-TIVE-NESS, n.

1. Actualness; reality of existence; not mere negation. The positiveness of sins of commission lies both in the habitude of the will and in the executed act too; the positiveness of sins of omission is in the habitude of the will only. – Norris.
2. Undoubting assurance; full confidence; peremptoriness; as, the man related the facts with positiveness. In matters of opinion, positiveness is not an indication of prudence.