-ward

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English -ward,^[2] inherited from Old English -weard,^{[3][4][5][2][6][7]} from Proto-Germanic *wardaz,^[1][3][5][6] an ablaut variant of the base of *werþaną (“to become”), the source of the verb worth,^[3][5][6] from Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to turn”).^[3][4][6] The suffix keeps the root's first meaning, turned towards something, which the Germanic verb had lost.^[3][4] It is cognate with Old Frisian -ward, Old Saxon -ward, Old High German -wart, and in other grades of the root with Old High German -wert, German -wärts, Old Norse -verðr and Gothic -𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐍃 (-wairþs),^[3][4][5][2] and related to Latin vertō (“to turn”) and versus.^[3][2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The suffix primarily formed adjectives meaning having a certain direction.^[3][7] It went only on adverbs of place in Old English, as in hāmweard (“homeward”).^[3][6] Those adjectives could also be used as adverbs in the accusative.^[3] Separately, tōweard was also used as a preposition.^[3]

Semantic evolution

A second stage is to heavenward and to the city ward, in which the suffix sits apart from the preposition to, as to us-ward shows.^[3][6] These are now obsolete or archaic.^[3] Dropping the to produced adverbs such as earthward and Godward.^[6][3] On their model the suffix was added directly to nouns to mean in the direction of the place named.^[3][7] Some of the results are nonce words.^[3] In the 17th and 18th centuries it was also added to phrases such as this way.^[3] Spellings such as -werd and -word occur down to the 16th century, and Scottish and northern -wart reflects a living pronunciation.^[3]

Timeline

• Old English – to-ward with a noun or proper name, in Ælfric.^[3]
• c. 1220 – from...ward, in the Bestiary; it is now obsolete.^[3]
• c. 1250 – to...ward with a pronoun, in The Owl and the Nightingale.^[3]
• 1599 – on phrases such as this way.^[3]
• 1623 – nonce adverbs from nouns, in Lancelot Andrewes.^[3]

Meanings

Suffix

1. Forming adjectives that mean moving, facing or directed towards something: a seaward slope, a landward breeze.^[2][8][5]
2. Forming adverbs that mean in a given direction in space or time, also spelled -wards: upward, northward, afterward.^[2][8][5]
3. Forming adverbs that mean towards a given point or area: earthward.^[2][7]

Word family

• awkward
• backward
• forward
• homeward
• inward
• toward
• upward

Related words

• -wards
• worth
• versus
• verse

Usage notes

After a monosyllable it is pronounced /wəd/, and after one or more unstressed syllables usually /wɔːd/.^[3] Collins says -ward is the usual American and Canadian form for adverbs, beside British -wards.^[8] The latter comes from Old English -weardes, the genitive of the same suffix.^[2][4]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins