The story
- Proto-Indo-European*wert-
- Proto-Germanic*wardaz
- English today-ward
From Old English -weard, from Proto-Germanic *wardaz, earlier *warþaz (“turned toward, in the direction of, facing”); compare -wards, from -weardes. Cognate with Dutch -waarts, Low German -warts, German -wärts, Old Norse -verðr, Icelandic -verðr, Swedish -vart, Gothic -𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐍃 (-wairþs), Latin vertere (“to turn”) or versus (“toward”), and Sanskrit वर्तते (vártate, “he turns”). Also related to worth (“to become”). Compare verse.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.