Obtain minimum NEGATIVE float value in C++

I was looking at std::numeric_limits<float>::min/max() but it appears 'min()' returns the smallest absolute value, not the lowest value. Is it safe to use

-std::numeric_limits<float>::max(), i.e is float symmetric in min/max limits?

Can float take negative values in C?

Floating point numbers can be positive or negative.

How do you find the minimum float value?

Wiki says this about float : The minimum positive normal value is 2^−126 ≈ 1.18 × 10^−38 and the minimum positive (denormal) value is 2^−149 ≈ 1.4 × 10^−45.

Can float hold negative value?

The range of float values is 3.4e-38 to 3.4e+38. So the float variables should not store negative values.

IEEE 754 floating point numbers use a sign bit for signed-ness (rather than something like twos complement), so if you're sure that your compiler/platform uses that representation (very common) then you can use -std::numeric_limits<float>::max() as you suspected.