northward

north·ward
N1O1R1T1H4W4A1R1D2
US/ˈnɔɹθwɚd/UK/ˈnɔːθwəd/

noun

The direction or area lying to the north of a place.

Less commonScrabble 16

Meanings

nounnorthward (uncountable)
  1. uncountableThe direction or area lying to the north of a place.
adjectivenorthward (comparative more northward, superlative most northward)

comparative more northward · superlative most northward

  1. Situated or directed towards the north; moving or facing towards the north.
adverbnorthward (comparative more northward, superlative most northward)

comparative more northward · superlative most northward

  1. Towards the north; in a northerly direction.

    [T]he trees blew stedfastly one way, never writhing round, and scarcely tossing back their boughs once in an hour; so continuous was the strain bending their branchy heads northward— […]

    1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter X, in Jane Eyre. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC, pages 255–256
    3 more examples

    When she came, I could see at a glance she was tired and jaded and worried, and so, instead of letting her fret about in the hotel and get into a wearing tangle of gossip, I packed her and two knapsacks up, and started off on a long, refreshing, easy-going walk northward, until a blister on her foot stranded us at the Magenruhe Hotel on the Sneejoch.

    1927 September, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “Little Mother up the Möderberg”, in The Short Stories of H. G. Wells, London: Ernest Benn Limited […], →OCLC, page 641

    […] we were driven a little to the Eaſt of the Molucca Iſlands, and about three Degrees Northward of the Line, as our Captain found by an Obſervation he took the 2d of May, at which time the Wind ceaſed, and it was a perfect Calm, whereat I was not a little rejoyced.

    1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “A Great Storm Described, the Long-Boat Sent to Fetch Water, the Author Goes with It to Discover the Country. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part II (A Voyage to Brobdingnag), pages 150–151

    Something must be done, and his sharp fox wits never stood him in better stead than they did on this memorable chase, for when the hounds came up to the stone wall they followed it for about thirty rods northward and then at a barway, an artificial break in the stone wall, the trail suddenly ended.

    1927, Clarence Hawkes, “Chapter 11”, in Redcoat

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectivemoving toward the north

nounthe cardinal compass point that is at 0 or 360 degrees

Similar
northdue northN
Broader
cardinal compass point

adverbin a northern direction

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*nér
  2. Proto-Indo-European*nŕ̥t(e)ros
  3. Proto-Germanic*nurþraz
  4. Proto-West Germanic*norþr
  5. Old Englishnorþ
  6. Middle Englishnorth
  7. Englishnorth
  8. Proto-Indo-European*wert-
  9. Proto-Germanic*wardaz
  10. Englishnorthward

From north + -ward.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Dutch noordwaarts
  • noordwaartstowards the north
Esperanto norden
  • nordentowards the north
German nordwärts
  • nordwärtstowards the north
Hungarian északra, észak felé
  • északratowards the north
  • észak felétowards the north
Latvian uz ziemeļiem
  • uz ziemeļiemtowards the north
Māori whakateraki
  • whakaterakitowards the north
Russian к се́веру, на се́вер
  • к се́веру (k séveru)towards the north
  • на се́вер (na séver)towards the north
Swedish nordvart
  • nordvarttowards the north
Ukrainian на пі́вніч
  • на пі́вніч (na pívnič)towards the north
Cite this entry
APA

northward. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/northward

MLA

“northward.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/northward. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “northward,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/northward.

Source: northward on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.