-wards

See also: wards, and -ward

English

Etymology

From Middle English -wardes, from Old English -weardes, a variant of -weard; equivalent to -ward +‎ -s (adverbial suffix).

Pronunciation

• (unstressed)
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /wədz/
  • (General American) IPA^(key): /wɚdz/
• (stressed, in the word "towards" only)
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /wɔːdz/
  • (General American) IPA^(key): /wɔɹdz/

Suffix

-wards

1. Forming adjectives and adverbs denoting course or direction to, or motion or tendency toward, as in "backwards", "towards", etc.
   • 1885, W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert, Arthur Sullivan, composer, “The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu”, in […] The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu, London: Chappel & Co., […], →OCLC:

     (Katisha:) At once I go Mikado-wards!

Usage notes

• The choice between -ward and -wards is individual or dialectal; both are widely used with adverbs, though -ward is heavily favoured for adjectives.
• Adverbs ending in -wards (Anglo-Saxon -weardes) and some other adverbs, such as besides, betimes, since (earlier sithens), etc., originated as genitive forms used adverbially.

Derived terms

English terms suffixed with -wards

Related terms

• -ward

Translations

forming adverbs

• Dutch: -waarts (nl)
• Finnish: -päin
• German: -wärts (de)
• Hebrew: ־ה (-a), ל־ (he) (l'-)
• Latvian: -up (lv)
• Yiddish: אַר־ (ar-)

forming adjectives

• Dutch: -waarts (nl)

Anagrams

• Sward, draws, sward