-ward
UK/wəd/US/wɚd/
-ward suffix: forming adverbs denoting course or direction to, or motion or tendency toward, as in "backward", "toward", "forward", etc.
Suffix
-ward
- 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.
-ward meaning in Arabic
-ward in Arabic
- forming adverbs
- ـًا، ـاً -an, -an, لـ l-
Origin of -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.
Questions about -ward
- What does -ward mean?
- -ward means forming adverbs denoting course or direction to, or motion or tendency toward, as in "backward", "toward", "forward", etc.
- What is -ward in Arabic?
- -ward in Arabic is ـًا، ـاً (-an, -an), لـ (l-). See -ward meaning in Arabic.
- What part of speech is -ward?
- -ward is a suffix.
- How do you pronounce -ward?
- -ward is pronounced /wəd/ (UK).
Words near -ward in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: -ward (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “-ward.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/-ward. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.