-ward
suffixUK /wəd/ · US /wɚd/
Etymology From Old English -weard, from Proto-Germanic *wardaz, earlier *warþaz (“turned toward, in the direction of, facing”); compare -wards, from -weardes. Cognate with Dutch -waarts, Low German -warts, German -wärts, Old Norse -verðr, Icelandic -verðr, Swedish -vart, Gothic -𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐍃 (-wairþs), Latin vertere (“to turn”) or versus (“toward”), and Sanskrit वर्तते (vártate, “he turns”). Also related to worth (“to become”). Compare verse.
1
Morpheme Forming adverbs denoting course or direction to, or motion or tendency toward, as in "backward", "toward", "forward", etc.
- And after dinner, with a kindly wink, she bade them accompany the Reverend, who briskly walked hallward.1957 March 7, Vladimir Nabokov, chapter 4.7, in Pnin, Heinemann, page 102:
2
Morpheme Forming adjectives, as in "a backward look", "the northward road", etc; used even by speakers who usually use -wards for adverbs.