technical - Is "prohibit" a negative word?


I encountered the word prohibited in some software documentation and am curious if this is an example of a double negative:


Prohibit requests for PROHIBITED parts


(This is an option in a piece of software; names omitted to protect the guilty.)


I found the wording confusing, though it sorta makes sense because I know that "PROHIBITED" is a type of status for parts in this system. I'm mostly curious from an educational POV.


Question: Is prohibit a negative word?


(This word must've been invented by a Marketing department: "because disallow sounds too negative!")


Follow-up question #1: Is there a better term for negative word in this context?


Follow-up question #2: Is there a[n exhaustive] list of negative words, or a guideline for identifying words as such?


By negative word I mean words such as not and no, and that can result in double negatives when used in a sentence.



Answer



Yes, "prohibit" is grammatically a negative word, since it allows any forms and negative polarity items in its complement. "They prohibited us from swimming anywhere." "My uncle prohibited my mother from giving me a red cent." ("a red cent" in the non-literal interpretation appears only in negative contexts)


However, there is no rule in English against having several negative words appearing together.


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