▪ I. inward, a. and n.
(ˈɪnwəd)
Forms: see next. Comp. inwarder obs., superl. inwardest now rare.
[OE. innanweard, inneweard, inweard, f. innan, inne, inn adv. and prep. + -weard (see -ward): cognate with ON. innanverðr adj. interior, inward, OHG. inwart, inwarti, MHG. inwart, inwarte, MDu. inwaert (inwert).]
A. adj. I. In reference to situation or condition.
1. Situated within; that is the inner or inmost part; that is in or on the inside; belonging to or connected with the inside (esp. of the body): = inner a. 1 a, interior a. 1, internal a. 1.
In OE. chiefly used of the interior or inner part of anything, like L. interior domus the inner (part of the) house, intimum pectus, the inmost (part of the) breast.
| Beowulf (Z.) 992 Ða wæs haten hreþe heort innanweard folmum ᵹefrætwod. c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxiv. §10 ælc wuht cwices biþ innanweard hnescost. a 1000 Christ & Satan (Gr.) 707 Hu heh and deop hell inneweard seo, grim græfhus. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 1815 Ne schal him neauer teone..trukien in inwarde helle. c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. v. met. ii. 119 (Camb. MS.) Natheles yit ne may it [the sun]..percen the inward entrailes of the erthe or elles of the see. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vii. lxvii. (MS. Bodl.) lf. 72 b, Þe Iuyes..swageþ inward brennyng in a wondre manere. c 1400 Apol. Loll. 24 He dede on cursyng os a cloþ, & entred as water in to his inword þings. 1483 Cath. Angl. 197/1 Inwarde,..jnterior, jntestinus. 1576 Newton Lemnie's Complex. (1633) 73 Fevers hecticke, which taking once hold in the inwardest parts..bringeth the body into apparant consumption. 1584 Cogan Haven Health cxxxii. 132 The inward parts of a swine..be very like to the inward parts of a man. 1617 Moryson Itin. i. 185 They tooke from me the inward doublet wherein I had quilted the gold. 1660 Barrow Euclid i. xvi, The outward angle will be greater than either of the inward and opposite angles. 1697 tr. C'tess D'Aunoy's Trav. (1706) 29 He found her alone in an inward Room. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 542 The inward carpentry-work on private and public buildings. 1841 Gladstone State & Church (ed. 4) I. iv. §78. 252 The term activity applies much more to outward than to inward vitality. 1899 J. Hutchinson Archives Surg. X. No. 38. 123 Nurse said child had had ‘inward convulsions’. |
† b. Said of the heart as a material organ possessing an interior part; and so, figuratively, of the heart, mind, soul, spirit, regarded as seats of feeling and thought. Obs.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxii. §1 Swiþe lust bære hine to ᵹehyranne mid inneweardum mode. c 1000 ælfric Deut. iv. 29 ᵹif ᵹe hine mid inweardre heortan seceaþ and mid ealre mihte. c 1200 Ormin 5925 Itt tacneþþ uss þatt mann þatt doþ God werrc wiþþ innwarrd herrte. a 1240 Lofsong in Cott. Hom. 209 Ich..bi-seche þe wið inwarde heorte. |
† c. Of medicine: = internal a. 1 c. Obs.
| 1607 E. Grimstone tr. Goulart's Mem. Hist. 289 Cured by diet, rest, and glisters, without any inward medicines. 1655 Digges Compl. Ambass. 387 To councel the application of inward medicines when outward will serve. |
d. Of the voice or a sound: Uttered without due opening of the mouth, so as not to be clearly heard; muffled, indistinct. (Cf. ‘to speak out’.) Also transf. of the utterer (quot. 1774).
| 1774 G. White Selborne lviii, The marten..when it sings, is so inward as scarce to be heard. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian xx, Her words were inward and indistinct. 1825 Mrs. Cameron Proper Spirit in Houlston Tracts I. ix. 5 He read in his turn, but with an inward voice. |
| Comb. 1876 Lanier Clover 17 in Poems, Eight lingering strokes..That speak the hour so inward-voiced. |
e. Situated in, or belonging to, the interior of a country or region; inland: = interior a. 1 c.
| 1635 E. Pagitt Christianogr. 46 The inward and wilder parts thereof remayne in their ancient Paganisme. 1732 T. Lediard Sethos II. viii. 145 Some provinces in the inward parts of Africa. |
† f. Mus. Applied to parts intermediate between the highest and lowest of the harmony: = inner a. 1 d. Obs.
| 1674 Playford Skill Mus. i. iv. 14 In any Cliff whatsoever, be it Bass, Treble, or any Inward Part. Ibid. ii. 99 The Tenor-Viol is an excellent inward part. |
2. Applied to the mind, thoughts, and mental faculties as located within the body; hence to mental or spiritual conditions and actions, as distinguished from bodily or external phenomena, and so = mental or spiritual. Cf. inner a. 2, interior a. 3, internal a. 3.
inward man (arch.) the spiritual part of man, the spirit: = inner man (inner a. 3 a.).
| a 1225 Juliana 44 Þer is riht bileaue ant inward bone [MS. Bodl. inwardliche bonen] ant swa icweme to godd. c 1485 Digby Myst. iv. 1134 Which with thyn inward Ee Seest the depest place of mannys conscience. 1526 Tindale 2 Cor. iv. 16 Though oure vttward man perisshe, yet the inwarde man is renewed daye by daye. 1532 More Confut. Tindale Wks. 521/1 By a secrete inward instincte of nature. 1587 Mirr. Mag., Q. Cordila v, To ease her inward smarte. 1611 Bible Ps. li. 6 Behold, thou desirest trueth in the inward parts. 1664 Butler Hud. ii. ii. 77 The inward Man And Outward, like a Clan and Clan, Have always been at Daggers-drawing. 1736 Butler Anal. i. iii. Wks. 1874 I. 56 Inward security and peace..are the natural attendants of innocence and virtue. 1807 Crabbe Par. Reg. iii. 401 Then shall thy inward eye with joy survey, The angel Mercy tempering Death's delay. 1885 S. Cox Expos. Ser. i. iii. 36 The most perplexing facts of our inward experience. |
† b. Conceived in or coming from one's inmost heart; deeply felt, heartfelt; hence, earnest, fervent.
| c 1402 Lydg. Compl. Bl. Knt. 218 The thought oppressed with inward sighes sore. Ibid. 580 The teares gonne fro mine eyen raine Full pitously, for very inward roth. 1508 Dunbar Poems vii. 37 Is none of Scotland borne..Bot he..wald of inwart hie effectioun, Bot dreyd of danger, de in thi defence. a 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV 229 What inward affeccion, and fervent desire, the kyng my Master hath alwaies had, to have a perfecte peace. 1627 Wotton Let. to Chas. I in Reliq. (1672) d vj b, With whom he did communicate the inwardest thoughts of his heart. |
c. Spiritually minded, devout, pious: = interior a. 3 c. ? Obs.
| c 1450 tr. De Imitatione ii. i. 41 A very inwarde man, & fre from inordinat affeccions. Ibid. v. 45 Thou shalt neuer be inwarde & deuoute man, but yf þou kepe silence of oþir men, & specialy beholde þiself. 1690 Penn Rise & Prog. Quakers (1834) 49 Being more religious, inward, still, solid, and observing. 1694 ― Trav. Holland & Germ. Pref. A iij, Wherefore, Reader, be Serious, Inward and Inquisitive for thy souls Sake. |
† 3. Belonging to the inner circle of one's acquaintance or friends; closely associated or acquainted; intimate, familiar, confidential. Obs. (Common in 16th and 17th c.)
| c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 236 Ane Chyld of hir Chalmer, Schir,..maist inwart of ane. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. I. 519 Ane Murra man maist inwart with the king. 1587 Fleming Contn. Holinshed III. 1371/2 Men knowne..to be..verie inward with the duke of Guise. 1602 Daniel Hymen's Tri. iii. i, You two were wont to be most inward Friends. 1606 Day Ile of Guls i. iv. (1881) 24 These Ladies are so inward with our tricks, theres no good to be done uppon them. 1609 Holland Amm. Marcell. xv. v. 35 One that would seeme most inward unto him, and of his familiar acquaintance. 1621 Quarles Argalus & P. (1678) 20 Friendly to all men, inward but with few. 1675 tr. Camden's Hist. Eliz. (1688) 13 She applied her first Care (howbeit with but a few of her inwardest Counsellours) to the restoring of the Protestant Religion. |
† b. Of a relation or feeling between two persons: Close, intimate. Obs.
| 1525 Ld. Berners Froiss. II. ci. [xcvii.] 295 All weren nat in his inwarde loue. 1617 Moryson Itin. i. 174 For their inward conversation, love, affinitie. 1645 Milton Tetrach. Wks. (1847) 209/1 (1 Cor. vii. 10) The most inward and dear alliance of marriage. |
† c. Of a bird or beast: Domesticated, tame.
| 1575 Turberv. Faulconrie 9 That Eagle..is by al probabilitie and conjecture, no inwarde Eagle, but a fugitive and a rangler. 1611 Cotgr., Accoquiner, to make tame, inward, familiar; to reclaim a wild thing. a 1643 W. Cartwright Lady Errant ii. ii, Wee'l keep you As they doe Hawkes..Watching untill you leave Your wildness, and prove inward. |
† 4. Secret, not disclosed; private; in quot. 1607–12, that is such secretly. Obs.
| a 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV 225 b, All inward grudges and open discordes. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. v. i. 102 What is inward betweene vs, let it passe. 1607–12 Bacon Ess., Seeming Wise (Arb.) 218 There is noe decaying Merchaunt, or inward Begger, hath so manie trickes to vphold the creditt of theire Wealth. 1609 Holland Amm. Marcell. xviii. iv. 109 In their neere attendance which they gave about privie and inward ministeries [inter ministeria vitæ secretioris]. 1611 Chapman May Day Plays 1873 II. 337 Pray eene goe in againe for I haue some inward newes for you. |
5. Existing in or pertaining to the country or place itself; domestic, intestine. Obs. or arch.
| 1513 More in Grafton Chron. (1568) II. 792 Inward war amongst our selves. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VI 83 The inward affaires of the realme of Englande. a 1626 Bacon Max. & Uses Com. Law Ep. Ded. (1636) 4 Your Majesties reigne having been blessed from the Highest with inward peace. 1675 tr. Camden's Hist. Eliz. i. (1688) 16 The Dangers inward they foresaw would be from the Noblemen removed from the Queen's Council. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Inward-maid, the house-maid in a farm-house, who has no work in the dairy, etc. |
† 6. Pertaining to the thing in itself; intrinsic.
| 1587 Golding De Mornay 52 Forasmuch as the onely God is..the highest degree of life, he hath his maner of conceiuing and begetting most inward of al. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 512 The neerest inward and most proper cause of marine movings. 1620 T. Granger Div. Logike 38 Necessitie Absolute, by supposition, proceding from causes Inward, which is necessitie of nature, and appetite. |
II. In reference to direction or motion. [From the adverb.]
7. Directed or proceeding towards the inside.
| 1849 R. T. Claridge Cold Water-cure 81 The eruption took an inward direction and inflammation of the lungs was the consequence. 1875 Clery Min. Tact. x. (1877) 131 Charged the Russian left wing when it had nearly completed its inward wheel. 1898 Daily News 13 July 4/7 Each Government..receives all the money on outward postages, and none on inward postages. |
B. n. [absol. use of the adj., already in OE.]
1. The inward or internal part, the inside; usually spec. the internal parts or organs of the body, the entrails. a. sing. (Now rare.)
| c 1000 ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 159/35 Intestina, smælþearmas, uel inneweard. c 1000 ælfric Exod. xxix. 17 His innewerde and his fet þu leᵹst uppan his heofod. c 1275 XI Pains Hell 151 in O. Eng. Misc. 151 Gripes freteþ heore Mawen..And heore ineward vych del. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2864 Þat ich in is Ineward mid suerd make a sseþe. 1481 Caxton Reynard (Arb.) 92 The moghettis Lyuer longes and the Inward shal be for your chyldren. 1584 Cogan Haven Health (1636) 146 The intrailes or inward of beastes. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. cxxviii, To kisse the tender inward of thy hand. 1817 Coleridge Biog. Lit. 63 Matter has no inward. 1884 J. Payne 1001 Nights VII. 80 He snatched up the man who had kicked him and carried him into the inward of the island. |
b. pl. (Now only in spec. sense: = Entrails.)
| a 1300 E.E. Psalter cviii[i.]. 18 Als watre, it in-yhede In his inwardes. c 1425 Found. St. Bartholomew's (E.E.T.S.) 30 His ynwardes were purgid from this dedly fylthe. 1531 Tindale Exp. 1 John (1537) 82 [To] brynge a beaste and slay it and offre the bloude and the fat of the inwardes. 1570–6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 475 Assured that the Inwardes of each place may best be knowen by such as reside therein. 1671 Salmon Syn. Med. i. xxxvii. 83 Obstruction is a Stoppage of the Inwards by thickned Flegm. 1725 Pope Odyss. xx. 325 The prince..to his sire assigns The tasteful inwards, and nectareous wines. 1850 Kingsley Alt. Locke xii, Ups and downs o' hills..enough to shake a body's victuals out of his inwards. |
2. The inner nature or essence of a thing or person; that which is within; the interior, secret, or intrinsic character, qualities, thoughts, etc. a. sing. rare.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. ii. viii. (Add. MS. 27, 944) lf. 15/1 An aungel..settith his entent in-to þe inwarde of god. 1832 Tennyson Eleänore i, There is nothing here, Which, from the outward to the inward brought, Moulded thy baby thought. 1884 J. Payne Tales fr. Arabic I. 106 O vizier..make thine inward like unto thine outward. |
† b. pl. Obs.
| c 975 Rushw. Gosp. Mark vii. 21 From ionnawordum..of heorte monna sweaunga yfel oft cumað. c 1450 tr. De Imitatione ii. i. 41 Yf þou haddist ones parfitly entrid in to þe inwardes of Ihesu, & haddist sauored a litel of his brennyng loue. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Matt. xiii. 76 He printeth it not utterly in the inwardes of his minde. 1680 Allen Peace & Unity Pref. 36 How necessary it is to look into the inwards of things. 1721 R. Keith tr. à Kempis' Solil. Soul x. 178 How disturbed my Conscience is; how confused all my Inwards. |
† 3. An intimate or familiar acquaintance: = intimate n. (Cf. A. 3.) Obs.
| 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. iii. ii. 138 Sir, I was an inward of his and I beleeue I know the cause of his withdrawing. 1607 Middleton Michaelmas Term ii. iii, He's a kind gentleman, a very inward of mine. |
4. pl. Articles coming in or imported, or dues on such articles. Also attrib.
| 1761 Gentl. Mag. 604 Mann, E. L. Collector of Inwards at Custom House. 1878 F. S. Williams Midl. Railw. 643 Upon the ‘Inwards’ platform we find cases of hard⁓ware from Birmingham, casks of shoes from Leicester, hampers of lace from Nottingham [etc.]. |
▸ inward direct investment n. Econ. (chiefly Brit.) = inward investment n. at Additions.
| 1968 Times 26 Jan. 21/1 A detailed survey on both outward and *inward direct investment. 1990 Economist 22 Sept. 33/1 Britain is itself now the recipient of a huge influx of inward direct investment. |
▸ inward investment n. Econ. investment in a certain geographical area by investors based outside that area; cf. foreign direct investment n. at foreign adj. and n. Additions, outward investment n. (b) at outward adj. and n.1 and adv. Special uses.
| 1962 Times 4 July 16/3 Both outward and *inward investment has risen steeply during the period. 1976 Newsweek (Nexis) 12 July 54 It's hard for unions to claim that outward investments cost them jobs and then turn around and oppose inward investment. 1996 Guardian 7 Sept. 5/3 The wily Forsyth started saying the ‘Tartan tax’ would cost Scots up to 3p in the {pstlg}1, and hit jobs and inward investment. |
▪ II. inward, adv. (prep.)
(ˈɪnwəd)
Forms: 1 inweard, (inneweard, ionnaword, 2–3 inneward, ineward(e), 2– inward; (4 inwar, 4–7 inwarde, 5 inword, ynwarde, 5–6 Sc. inwart, inuart, 6 inwerd, Sc. inuert).
[OE. innan-, inne-, inweard = OHG. inwert, MDu. inne-, inwaert, -wert, -wart: see prec.]
A. adv.
1. Towards the inside or interior (of a place, space, or material body). a. Of motion or direction.
| c 1000 Nicodemus xxxi, in Thwaite Heptat. App. (1698) 18 Ða hiᵹ inweard foron þa ᵹemytton hiᵹ tweᵹen ealde weras. a 1225 St. Marher. 8 As me ledde hire inward. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 11094 Arblastes sone & ginnes wiþoute me bende, & ssote inward vaste inou. 1375 Barbour Bruce x. 397 Als-soyn thai Held carpand Inward on thar way. 1413 Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton 1483) i. iv. 4 Beholdyng inward as fer as I myȝt, thenne saw I many syeges ryal and wonderful. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. i. 7 Pathes and alleies wide..leading inward farr. 1658 A. Fox Wurtz' Surg. ii. vii. 67 It happeneth sometimes, that the scull by a heavy blow is bowed inward. 1707 Chamberlayne St. Eng. 497 Comptroller of the Cloth and Petty-Custom inward and outward. Ibid. 501 Patent-Officers in the Out-Ports..Southampton, one Customer inward, One Customer outward. Passim. 1799 Med. Jrnl. II. 230 When the eye rolls inward. 1871 Rossetti Poems, Ave 103 The cherubim, arrayed, conjoint, Float inward to a golden point. |
b. Of position or situation: In or on the inside; in the interior, within; internally: = inwardly adv. 1. ? Obs.
| c 1400 Rom. Rose 4411 Inward myn herte I fele blede. 1471 Ripley Comp. Alch. vi. ix. in Ashm. (1652) 163 The Mater ys alterate, Both inward and outward substancyally. 1515 Barclay Egloges iv. (1570) C vj b/1 A castell or toure moste curious, Dreadfull vnto sight but inwarde excellent. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. i. 9 The Maple seeldom inward sound. 1611 Bible 1 Kings vii. 25 The Sea was set aboue vpon them, and all their hinder parts were inward. 1688 R. Holme Armoury ii. 16/2 Such Lines or Circles, as ly inward in the material Sphere. |
† c. With an ‘inward’ tone, with muffled utterance, indistinctly: cf. inward a. 1 d. Obs.
| 1644 Milton Educ. Wks. (1847) 99/2 Englishmen..are observed by all other nations to speak exceeding close and inward. |
2. fig. a. Towards that which is within; into the mind or soul; into one's own thoughts.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 272 So sone so me biginneð kunsenten to sunne, and let þene lust gon inward and delit waxen. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 111 Loke inwarde on our owne conscyence, and remembre our synnes. a 1600 Hooker (J.), Looking inward we are stricken dumb; looking upward we speak and prevail. 1766 Fordyce Serm. Yng. Wom. (1767) II. viii. 36 Satiated with external pleasures, she turns inward. |
b. Within, in, or in relation to, the mind or soul; mentally or spiritually; = inwardly adv. 3.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Luke xi. 39 Þætte ðonne inweard [Rushw. ionnaword] is iuer [Vulg. intus est vestrum] full is mið nednimincg and mið unrehtwisnise. c 1420 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 321 If he inward hadde any repentaunce. c 1450 Holland Howlat 389 It synkis sone in all part Of a trewe Scottis hart, Reiosand ws inwart. 1526 Tindale 2 Cor. vii. 5 Outwarde was fightynge, in warde was feare. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. lxii, It is so grounded inward in my heart. 1659 Dryden Stanzas Cromwell xii, We inward bled, whilst they prolonged our pain. |
3. Comb.
| c 1425 Found. St. Bartholomew's (E.E.T.S.) 23 A-noone the Inward-borne blyndenesse fledde a-way. 1850 J. G. Whittier Songs of Labor 59 Still dreamed my inward-turning eye. 1866 R. M. Ballantyne Shift. Winds xiv. (1881) 136 The Captain hailed the first inward-bound vessel he met with. 1890 W. James Princ. Psychol. I. x. 320 The more utterly ‘selfish’ I am in this primitive way, the more blindly absorbed my thought will be in the objects and impulses of my lusts, and the more devoid of any inward looking glance. 1910 Kipling Rewards & Fairies p. x, These shall cleanse and purify Webbed and inward-turning eye. 1946 Koestler Thieves in Night 207 She sipped her dry Martini with an inward-turned look. 1961 A. Miller Misfits xii. 131 His eyes are sightless, inward-looking. 1963 Times 28 Jan. 5/2 Yet Schumann's poetry has its feet on German earth, and it was possible to feel that Mr. Richter's presentation of it was just a little too disembodied and wraithlike, his interpretation a little too inward-looking. 1968 Guardian 15 Apr. 9/6 Pressure from inward-looking, anti-national groups. |
† B. prep. In the interior of; within. Obs. rare.
| 14.. Sir Beues (MS. M) 1208 Right on the bryge, the Romans seys, They met Beues inwarde the paleys. |
▪ III. inward, v. rare.
[f. prec. adv. or adj.]
† 1. intr. and refl. To come inwards or in, to enter. Obs. rare—0.
| 1611 Florio, Indentrarsi, to inward himselfe. Ibid., Innentrare, to inward or enter into. |
2. trans. To make inward or subjective. rare—1.
| 1868 Contemp. Rev. VIII. 618 The oriental mind..subjectifies the individuality, or, to frame a word for the occasion, inwards it. |