toward
English
Etymology
From Middle English toward, from Old English tōweard, equivalent to to + -ward
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /təˈwɔːd/
- (General American) IPA(key): /tʊˈwɔːɹd/, /twɔɹd/, /tɔɹd/
- (General New Zealand) IPA(key): /tɘˈwoːd/, /ˈtwoːd/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)d
- Hyphenation: to‧ward
Preposition
toward (chiefly US)
- In the direction of.
- She moved toward the door.
- Bible, Numbers xxiv. 1
- He set his face toward the wilderness.
- 1914, Louis Joseph Vance, chapter III, in Nobody, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, published 1915, OCLC 40817384:
- Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear.
- 2019, VOA Learning English (public domain)
- China has claimed that South Korea’s dust flies toward Shanghai.
Audio (US) (file)
- China has claimed that South Korea’s dust flies toward Shanghai.
- In relation to (someone or something).
- What are your feelings toward him?
- Bible, Deuteronomy
- His eye shall be evil toward his brother.
- For the purpose of attaining (an aim).
- I'm saving money toward retirement.
- Located close to; near (a time or place).
- Our place is over toward the station.
- Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)
- I am toward nine years older since I left you.
Usage notes
- Although some have tried to discern a semantic distinction between the words toward and towards, the only difference in practice is dialectal. Toward is more common in American English and towards is more common in British English, though each form may be found in both varieties.
Synonyms
Translations
in the direction of
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in relation to
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for the purpose of
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located near
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Adjective
toward (not comparable)
- Yielding, pliant; docile; ready or apt to learn; not froward.
- (obsolete) Future; to come.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.iv:
- ere that wished day his beame disclosd, / He either enuying my toward good, / Or of himselfe to treason ill disposd / One day vnto me came in friendly mood […]
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.iv:
- (dated) Approaching, coming near; impending; present, at hand.
- Shakespeare
- Do you hear aught, sir, of a battle toward?
- 1843, Thomas Carlyle, Past and Present, book 2, ch. XV, Practical — Devotional
- On the morrow […] our Lord Abbot orders the Cellerarius to send off his carpenters to demolish the said structure brevi manu, and lay up the wood in safe keeping. Old Dean Herbert, hearing what was toward, comes tottering along hither, to plead humbly for himself and his mill.
- Shakespeare
- (obsolete or archaic) Promising, likely.
- Shakespeare
- Why, that is spoken like a toward prince.
- 1994 July 25, Jack Winter, “How I met my wife”, in The New Yorker:
- And even though I had only swerving loyalty to her, my manners couldn't be peccable. Only toward and heard-of behavior would do.
- Shakespeare
Middle English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Old English tōweard, tōwærd; equivalent to to + -ward.
Preposition
toward
- In the direction of; toward.
- a. 1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Clerk's Tale”, in The Canterbury Tales, line 783-784:
- Toward Saluces shaping hir journey, / Fro day to day they ryden in hir wey […]
- Towards Saluzzo they point their journey, / From day to day they ride on their way […]
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- Into the presence of.
- In proximity to; near, by.
- In an exchange or communication with; to.
- Laȝamon's Brut
- Þe while þe he spac touward Goden.
- Laȝamon's Brut
- Having a wont or tendency towards.
- Similar to.
- Subject to; under the control of.
- Useful for; prepared for.
Derived terms
Descendants
- English: toward
Adjective
toward
- Future, forthcoming; to come.
- Near at hand; imminent, nigh.
- Moving forth.
- of goodwill, benevolent; well-tempered, gentle.
Related terms
Descendants
- English: toward
Derived terms
References
- “toward, (prep.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 15 April 2018.
- “toward, (adj.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 15 April 2018.
- “toward, (adv.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 15 April 2018.
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