Symbols:Arithmetic and Algebra/Negative Quantity

Positive

$-$

A unary operator prepended to a number to indicate that it is negative.

For example:

$-6$

The $\LaTeX$ code for \(-6\) is -6 .

If a number does not have either $+$ or $-$ prepended, it is assumed to be positive by default.

Also see

• Symbols:Positive Quantity

See:

Symbols:Subtraction

Symbols:Set Difference (Variant)

Symbols:Logical Not (Minus)

for other uses of this symbol.

Historical Note

The use of $-$ sign to indicate a negative quantity first appeared in $1489$ in a work by Johannes Widmann.

Sources

• 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): minus sign: 1.