What does negative of how mean in mathematics?

In mathematics, the phrase “negative of” usually means the opposite of a number, not the word “how.” So the negative of 555 is −5-5−5, and the negative of −5-5−5 is 555.

What it means

• The negative of a number is what you get by changing its sign.

• For example, the negative of aaa is −a-a−a.

• This is different from a negative number , which is simply a number less than zero.

Simple example

If x=7x=7x=7, then:

• the negative of xxx is −7-7−7.
• the negative of −7-7−7 is 777.

If you meant something else

If “negative of how” was meant as a grammar question, the phrase is not standard in math. The usual wording is “the negative of a number” or “the opposite of a number.”

The short version: negative of a number = its opposite.