westward

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English westward,^[2][3] inherited from Old English westweard (“westward, in a westerly direction”),^[4][3][5][6] formed from Old English west + -weard.^[3][7][4] The OED compares Old Frisian westwerd, Middle Dutch westwaert and Middle Low German westwart, and Old English also had westanweard (“situated towards the west”).^[7] The form westwards, with an adverbial genitive ending, is from English west + -wards.^[4][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Towards the west, in a westerly direction: early Old English, in the Parker manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, under the year 892.^[7][5]

Semantic evolution

The adverb first described direction or motion; from before 1387, in John Trevisa's translation of Higden's Polychronicon, it was also used of position, "on the west side".^[7][2] As an adjective, situated in or facing the west, it is also Old English;^[7] Etymonline dates the adjective to about 1200,^[4] and the MED quotes Laȝamon's Brut for "western, westerly" and as a noun for the west side.^[2] The noun, the westward direction or part, follows with the definite article from about 1350.^[7][3] Between 1600 and 1647 westward was also slang for the way to Tyburn in west London, the place of execution.^[7] Chaucer used the word five times and Gower once.^[9]

Timeline

• Old English – adverb, towards the west.^[7][5]
• Old English – adjective, situated in or facing the west.^[7]
• before 1387 – of position, in the west.^[7]
• c. 1350 – noun, with the: the western direction or part.^[7]
• 1600 – towards Tyburn, to execution (obsolete by 1647).^[7]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Towards the west: The settlers pushed westward across the plains.^[3][10][7]

Adjective

1. Moving towards, facing or situated in the west: the westward slope.^[10][7]

Noun

1. The westward direction or part: An island lay to the westward.^[3][10][7]

Word family

• westwardly
• westwards

Related words

• westerly
• eastward
• northward
• southward
• western
• -ward

Usage notes

Westwards is a common variant of the adverb, especially in British use.^[10][4] Westward ho!, "to the west", was the call of Thames boatmen hailing passengers for the western part of the river from the City, according to Etymonline.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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)
3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
6. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
10. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins