Meanings
- Forming adverbs denoting course or direction to, or motion or tendency toward, as in "backward", "toward", "forward", etc.
And after dinner, with a kindly wink, she bade them accompany the Reverend, who briskly walked hallward.
1957 March 7, Vladimir Nabokov, chapter 4.7, in Pnin, Heinemann, page 102 - Forming adjectives, as in "a backward look", "the northward road", etc; used even by speakers who usually use -wards for adverbs.
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*wert-
- Proto-Germanic*wardaz
- English-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.
More words from Old English, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic ـًا، ـاً, لـ
- ـًا، ـاً (-an, -an)forming adverbs
- لـ (l-)forming adverbs
Dutch -waarts, -waarts
- -waartsforming adverbs
- -waartsforming adjectives
German -wärts
- -wärtsforming adverbs
Hebrew ־ה, ל־
- ־ה (-a)forming adverbs
- ל־ (l'-)forming adverbs
Hungarian -felé, -i
- -feléforming adverbs
- -iforming adjectives
Polish -ie, -o
- -ieforming adverbs
- -oforming adverbs
- -yforming adjectives
- -iforming adjectives
Swedish -åt
- -åtforming adverbs
Yiddish אַר־
- אַר־ (ar-)forming adverbs
Cite this entry
-ward. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-ward
“-ward.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-ward. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “-ward,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-ward.
Source: -ward on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.