"answering 'yes,'" mid-15c., from use in logic; from Middle French affirmatif (13c.), from Latin affirmativus, from affirmat-, past participle stem of affirmare (see affirm). As a noun from early 15c. Affirmative action "positive or corrective effort by employers to prevent discrimination in hiring or promotion" is attested from 1935 with regard to labor unions; specific racial sense is from 1961; now often used in reference to hiring quotas, etc.
双语例句
1. Seventy-nine voted in the affirmative, and none in the negative.
79人投赞成票，没有人投反对票。
来自柯林斯例句
2. Dr Sinclair's affirmative nod seemed a shade reluctant.
辛克莱博士虽然点头表示了同意，但还显得有点不情愿。
来自柯林斯例句
3. Haig was desperately eager for an affirmative answer.
黑格非常渴望得到一个肯定的回答。
来自柯林斯例句
4. An affirmative resolution of both Houses of Parliament is needed.
