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northward

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Etymology and origin of the English word northward

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Old English translation of Orosius
From
Old English norþweard

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈnɔːθwəd/[1]
  • US: /ˈnɔɹθwɚd/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old English norþweard,[2][3][4] from norþ (“north”) and the suffix -weard;[3][2] the OED treats it as formed in English from the adverb north and -ward.[5] The OED compares Middle Dutch nortwaert, Middle Low German nōrtwērt and Swedish nordvart, and also Old English norðanweard (“situated in or towards the north”).[5] The form northwards, with the adverbial genitive -s, is recorded from the mid-15th century.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Already in Old English as an adverb, towards the north, in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (in the annal for 1016, Hé éfste norþweard, he hastened northward),[5][4] and as an adjective and a noun in the Old English translation of Orosius, in the account of the voyages of Ohthere and Wulfstan.[5][4]

Semantic evolution

The meaning has stayed close to its parts: direction or motion towards the north, and position to the north of something.[5][6] The noun with the definite article, the northward, the northern part or direction, is recorded from about 1350,[5][3] and survives chiefly in sailing.[3] Etymonline dates the adjective only from the 1590s,[2] while the OED records it in Old English.[5] Johnson (1755) entered only the adjective, deriving it from north and Saxon weard.[7] In early 19th-century Australian convict slang the Northward was the prison at Moreton Bay.[8]

Timeline

  • Old English – adverb, towards the north; adjective and noun in the translation of Orosius.[5][4]
  • c. 1350 – the northward, the northern part or direction.[5]
  • mid-15th century – northwards.[2]
  • 1838 – the Northward, the Moreton Bay prison, in Australian slang.[8]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Towards the north: The geese flew northward in early spring.[3][9][6][5]
  2. In a position to the north (of something).[5][6]

Adjective

  1. Moving, facing or lying towards the north: a northward slope.[9][3][5]

Noun

  1. The northern direction or part; the north: The fleet stood off to the northward.[3][9][5]

Word family

  • northwardly
  • northwards

Usage notes

Collins treats the adverb as a variant of northwards, and notes a nautical pronunciation /ˈnɔːðəd/.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  8. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  9. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Northward.” Etymologically, 1 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/northward. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

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