altarward

altarward adjective: being in or facing towards an altar.

Adjective

altarward (not comparable)

(rare) Being in or facing towards an altar.
- Side galleries are then practically useless. Æsthetically they altogether contradict the altarward tendency of the church.1874, John Thomas Micklethwaite, “Of the Pews” (chapter III), in Modern Parish Churches: Their Plan, Design, and Furniture, London: Henry S. King & Co., page 36
- This fact is always shown forth symbolically by the eastward, or altarward position.1938, Frederick Roth Webber, Studies in the Liturgy, Ashby Printing Company, page 65

altarward (not comparable)

(uncommon) In the direction of an altar, toward an altar.
- I am morally certain that if, whilst I was being conducted altarward through that thronged church this morning, anybody had shown any portion of my person the fullest stabbing-qualities of which the largest-sized pin is capable, I should have been thoroughly ignorant of such a demonstration.1873, Edgar Fawcett, chapter XIII, in Purple and Fine Linen, New York: G. W. Carleton & Co., page 136
- […] and I now imagine "dearest Jane" filling my place, tending the wounds I tended, brushing the curly jungle I brushed, loving the excellent little youth I loved, and eventually walking altarward, with the Sergeant stumping gallantly at her side.1863, Louisa May Alcott, “A Postcript” (chapter VI), in Hospital Sketches, Boston: James Redpath, pages 94-95

So the media settled in to track the altarward progress of the Keaton-Talmadge sweethearts, though the date for the big event remained to be determined.2011 [2004], Edward McPherson, “Wedding Bells and Hard Luck Goats” (chapter 9), in Buster Keaton: Tempest in a Flat Hat, Faber and Faber...
She was leaning upon the arm of Almund, and stepping altarward to the sound of a noble marriage hymn.c. 1891, Amelia E. Barr, “Marrying and Promise of Marriage” (chapter IV), in Love for an Hour Is Love Forever, New York: Dodd, Mead & Co....
And still the white-veiled women continue to kneel in the aisle, their faces turned altarward, and the motley-hued garments of the men are pressed close together in the body of the church.1896, Marion Harland, “Christmas in Bethlehem (Continued)” (chapter XLI), in Home of the Bible: What I Saw and Heard in Palestine, New York...

From altar + -ward.

What does altarward mean?: Altarward means being in or facing towards an altar.
How do you use altarward in a sentence?: So the media settled in to track the altarward progress of the Keaton-Talmadge sweethearts, though the date for the big event remained to be determined.
What part of speech is altarward?: Altarward can be an adjective or an adverb.

Adapted from Wiktionary: altarward (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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “altarward.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/altarward. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.