Etymologically
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onward

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈɒnwəd/[1]
  • US: /ˈɔnwɚd/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English on + -ward,[2][3][4][5][6] after inward, forward and similar words.[7] The Middle English adverb was onward, also oneward,[8] and the MED compares Old English onweard;[8] Johnson likewise derived it from the Old English word.[9] The form onwards, with -wards, is recorded from about 1440 according to the OED,[3] but from about 1600 according to Etymonline.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a preposition, "on, over, along": about 1196, in a copy of an Old English royal charter (obsolete by 1652).[3] As an adverb, "in advance, on account": about 1225, in the Ancrene Riwle (obsolete by 1591).[3]

Semantic evolution

The early senses, "in advance, provisionally" and "further on, ahead", are obsolete;[3] Chaucer used the word once, in the Knight's Tale, for "forward".[3][10][11] The main modern sense, "in a direction continuing forward", is recorded from about 1425, in Lydgate, and the sense "forward in time" from 1667, in Milton's Paradise Lost.[3] Etymonline dates both to the late 14th century,[2] Merriam-Webster to the 15th.[4] The adjective, "moving forward, advancing", dates from 1674,[3][4] and onward and upward from 1827.[3] Since 1971 it has also described the further part of a journey, as in onward flight.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 1196 – preposition, on, over, along (obsolete by 1652).[3]
  • c. 1225 – adverb, in advance, on account (obsolete by 1591).[3]
  • c. 1385 – further on, ahead (obsolete).[3]
  • c. 1425 – forward in space.[3]
  • c. 1440 – onwards.[3]
  • 1667 – forward in time.[3]
  • 1674 – adjective, moving forward.[3][4]
  • 1827 – onward and upward.[3]
  • 1971 – of a journey, continuing further: onward flight.[3]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Forward or ahead in space: The hikers pressed onward through the rain.[4][12][3]
  2. Forward in time, from a given point: from the 1990s onward.[4][12][3]
  3. So as to make progress.[12]

Adjective

  1. Directed or moving forward; advancing: the onward march of the city.[13][4][3]
  2. Of a journey, continuing beyond a stop: an onward connection to Lyon.[12][3]

Usage notes

Collins treats the adverb onward as a variant of onwards, and gives onward chiefly as an adjective.[13] The OED also records an unrelated obsolete adjective onward, "hostile, opposed", formed with the prefix and- and used from Old English to about 1225.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  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 f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
  7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  10. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
  11. ^ Skeat, W. W., ed. (1894), The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, vol. VI: Glossarial Index, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  12. ^ a b c d Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  13. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins