dou′ble neg′ative^*(n.)

1. a syntactic construction in which two negative words are used in the same clause to express a single negation.

   Category: Grammar

^* Usage: The double negative was standard in English through the time of Shakespeare. In Modern English it is universally considered nonstandard: They never paid me no money. He didn't have nothing to do with it. In educated speech or writing, any and anything would be substituted for no and nothing. Certain uses of double negation, to express an affirmative, are fully standard: We cannot sit here and do nothing (meaning “we must do something”). In the not unlikely event that the bill passes, prices will rise (meaning the event is likely). See also hardly.

Origin of double negative:

1820–30