▪ I. toward, a. and adv.
(ˈtəʊ(w)əd, ˈtɔːəd)
Forms: see next.
[OE. tóweard adj., f. tó, to prep. + -weard, -ward. So OS. tôward, -werd, OHG. zuowart, -wert, adjs. In OE., when used attributively, inflected like other adjs.; when in the predicate, uninflected exc. with pl. -e. The advb. use appears to arise out of the predicative use of the adj., or from the neuter adj.]
A. adj.
† 1. That is to come, coming, future. Obs.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxix. §11 Tacn þæs toweardan welan. 971 Blickl. Hom. 15 Be þisse ondweardan tide, ᵹe eac be þære toweardan. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Mark x. 30 On toweardre [Hatt. G. towearde] worulde ece lif. 11.. 12th Cent. Hom. xiv. 136 Næfð he næfre þærof forȝyfenesse, ne on þisse weorlde, ne on þa towearden. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. iv. 22 He, either envying my toward good, Or of him selfe to treason ill disposd. 1613 Chapman Rev. Bussy D'Ambois i. i, The toward victor of the whole low Countryes. |
† b. predicatively. Coming or going (to be), about to be, future. Obs.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xi. §1 He nat hwæt him toweard bið, hwæðer þe god þe yfel. c 1000 ælfric Gen. xviii. 18 He ys toweard on micelre mæᵹðe. Ibid. xlix. 1 Ic eow cyðe þa þing þe eow towearde synd. ― Deut. xxix. 15 Eallum mannum, þam þe nu sint and þam þe towearde sint. c 1530 Ld. Berners Arth. Lyt. Bryt. (1814) 48 And she grew and amended dayly, so that she was towarde to be fayrest creature of y⊇ worlde. |
† 2. Approaching, imminent, impending. Obs.
| c 890 tr. Bæda's Eccl. Hist. iv. i. (1890) 256 Hy nedde se towearda winter, þæt heo stille wunedon. 971 Blickl. Hom. 195 Forþon þe he ær nolde onᵹytan þone towerdon deaþ. 1586 J. Hooker Hist. Irel. in Holinshed II. 154/2 Dispatching also a messenger to hir maiestie of these toward broiles and rebellion. |
b. pred. Now rare or Obs.
| c 890 tr. Bæda's Eccl. Hist. iv. xiv. [xi.] (1890) 294 Mid þy he..onᵹet þæt him deaðes dæᵹ toweard wæs. a 1000 Lœceboc ii. xlvi. in Sax. Leechd. II. 256 Tacn hu sio adl toweard sie. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) V. 101 Also for werre and batailles þat were toward [L. propter imminentia bella]. 1462 J. Paston in P. Lett. II. 121 Mak as merry as ye can, for ther is no joperte toward not yet. 1494 Fabyan Chron. vii. 387 For so moche as wynter was towarde. 1582 N. T. (Rhem.) Acts xxvii. 20 No smal storme being toward [imminente] al hope was now taken away. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. v. iv. 35 There is sure another flood toward, and these couples are comming to the Arke. 1795 Montford Castle II. 50 There was a trifling banquet toward, at which they would be glad of his company. 1877 Macquoid Doris Barugh xviii. (E.D.D.), Ah knawed fower weeks sin' at ther war a wedding toward. |
c. In progress, going on; being done.
| 1838 C. Fox Old Friends (1882) 229 Louis Buonaparte has reached France from London to see what is toward. 1892 A. Murdoch Yoshiwara Episode 60 News of the encounter that was toward had spread.., and all the inmates..had pushed into the ante-room where the contest was in progress. 1893 Rider Haggard Montezuma's Dau. xxi, A fierce hope smote me..when I saw what was toward. |
d. ‘Getting on’, forward, advanced.
| 1893 Cornh. Mag. Nov. 522 Glidders's operations were well toward. |
3. Of young persons: Promising, ‘hopeful’, forward; making good progress in learning or practice; disposed, apt, or willing to learn; docile. = towardly a. 2. Obs. or arch.
| c 1290 S. Eng. Let. I. 42/278 Swuch a child touward as þou art i-loked. 1538 Cromwell in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) II. 163 On the behalfe of a ryght towarde yonge man, Edwarde Bashe, this Berer. 1598 B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. ii. i, Where proving A toward Imp. 1600 Heywood 1st Pt. Edw. IV, Wks. 1874 I. 5 There was neuer mother had a towarder son. 1625 B. Jonson Staple of N. ii. i, Vouchsafe my toward kinsman, gracious madam, The favour of your hand. |
† 4. Disposed to do what is asked or required; willing, compliant, obliging, docile. (The opposite of froward a. 1.) Obs. or arch.
| c 1440 York Myst. xxvi. 159 Goode sir, be toward þis tyme, And tarie noght my trace, For I haue tythandis to telle. 1472–3 Rolls of Parlt. VI. 6/1 Of their fre wille, toward, herty and lovyng dispositions. 1532 Cromwell in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) I. 350 What shalbe your towarde mynde herin I pray you to Aduertise me. 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 1157 Peruerse it shall be, where it showes most toward, Put feare to valour, courage to the coward. 1713 Steele Guard. No. 142 ¶3 Miss hath hitherto been very tractable and toward. 1738 tr. Guazzo's Art Conversation 233 A Child of a toward Disposition. |
b. Of things: Favourable, propitious: the opposite of untoward. rare.
| 1850 Gladstone Homer II. 100 She can order out a rattling zephyr..or simply a toward breeze. 1868 ― Juv. Mundi viii. (1870) 281 He too sends for the Greek ship a toward breeze. 1902 Daily Chron. 29 May 3/2 There are plenty of what we may call toward coincidences in Mr. Yoxall's book. |
5. Left, as opposed to right. dial.
[From the fact that the left side of a horse, etc., is toward the person who mounts or leads it. Cf. near a. 3.]
| 1866 Blackmore Cradock Nowell xxii, ‘Mark, does Mr. Cradock Nowell generally shoot with cartridges?’ ‘He laiketh mostways to be with a curtreege in his toard barryel, sir’. ‘Oh, keeps a cartridge in his left barrel, does he; and fires first the right, I suppose?’ 1879 G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Word-bk. s.v. Frommet, A harvest-field term. Toërt is left hand... ‘Theer, now yo'n chucked it down toërt way’. |
† 6. ? Forthcoming, ready at hand; in existence, ‘going’. Obs. (Quotations obscure.)
| c 1350 Will. Palerne 1101 Of proude princes sones, douȝti men toward, Fulle foure schore. Ibid. 1443 He has a sone dere, On þe triest man to-ward of alle douȝti dedes, Þat any man vpon molde may of here. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. i. 214 And ȝe, route of ratons of rest men a-wake, Ne were þe cat of þe court And ȝonge Kytones to-warde. c 1530 Ld. Berners Arth. Lyt. Bryt. cxiv. (1814) 540 And this chyld was the most fair chyld toward of the world, and wel fourmed, byg and myghty. [orig. & si estoit l'enfant le plus beau qu'oncques fut veu grand & gros & bien forme.] 1559 J. Aylmer Harborowe 12, I shewed you the lyke towarde in a man of late. |
B. adv. [Cf. MHG. zuowart adv.]
1. In a direction toward oneself, or toward something aimed at. Obs. or arch. † toward and froward (dial. fromward), to and fro.
| a 1300 E.E. Psalter cxviii[i]. 8 To-ward, fra-ward, forlete me noght. a 1400 in Halliwell Rara Mathem. (1841) 58 Come toward and go froward til þe perpendicle..falle vpon þe mydel lyne of þe quadrant. Ibid. 66 Go toward and froward til þou se þe toppe of þat thing in þe mydel of þat myrure. 1470–85 Malory Arthur xiii. xvi. 634 He rode many Iourneyes bothe toward and froward. 1858 Bushnell Serm. New Life xi. (1869) 148 The motion is outward and not toward, as we conceive it to be in happiness. |
b. To the left or near side (of a horse, etc.). dial.
| 1711 Lond. Gaz. No. 4917/4 The forepart of his Mane longest, the one part being short, lies toward, the other fromward. [Gloucester, Hampsh., Wilts, in Eng. Dial Dict.] |
2. Onward (in a course), forward (lit. and fig.).
| 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 12159 Al that thow wendyst ha be toward, Ys but a passage that goth bakward. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xxx. (Percy Soc.) 148 The time renneth toward right fast. 1529 More Dyaloge Wks. 110/1 By that way, y⊇ faith went well toward, and one heritique so tourned did turne many other. 1888 Berksh. Gloss., Towart, towards; forward. When a come a little tow-art I could zee as 'twas a pawle cat. |
▪ II. toward, prep.
(ˈtəʊəd, ˈtɔːəd, tɔəd; təˈwɔːd)
Forms: 1–2 toweard, 2 towaard, 2–3 touward, 2–4 to-ward, 2, 4–6 Sc. towart, (4 tawart, 6 Sc. touart), 3 (Orm.) towarrd, (3–4 to(-)war), 4–5 taward(e, 4–6 towarde, 5 tooward, to-warde, to ward, to warde, (towor, 6 towerde, towrd, tward, torde), 3– toward, (8–9 tow'rd, 9 dial. toard).
[OE. tóweard, f. tó, to prep. + -weard, -ward; orig. the uninflected form or singular neuter of toward a. In OE., originally followed by a genitive; later by a dative like the simple to.
‘The first pronunciation figured above is now chiefly northern and (app.) American; the fourth is not recognized in any modern dictionary, British or American, nor app. by any orthoepist; but it appears to be the prevailing one in London and the south of England.’—N.E.D.
See Walker on the word. It was app. referred to in 1749 by Chesterfield Lett. 27 Sept.: ‘The vulgar man goes to wards and not towards such a place’. It may have arisen from the analytical form in to us ward, to heaven ward, in which to has its ordinary stressless pronunciation as a preposition; and, if so, may have existed locally or as an alternative form, esp. in verse, from the 16th c. So with towards.]
1. Of motion (or action figured as motion): In the direction of; so as to approach (but not necessarily reach: thus differing from to prep. 1).
| c 893 K. ælfred Oros. i. i. §22 Þonne ærnað hy ealle toweard þæm feo. c 897 ― Gregory's Past. C. ix. 59 Ða ðe gað on ryhtne weᵹ toweard ðæs hefonrices. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 3 Þe helend nehlechede to-ward ierusalem þare burh. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 18/589 Þo þe deuelene comen toward him, huy ne miȝten come him neiȝ. c 1375 Cursor M. 3356 (Fairf.) Quat mon ys he Þat comande tawarde [v.r. tilward] vs I se. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxxiii. (George) 844 Dacyane..Towart his palace went. c 1400 Destr. Troy 6112 Þo ledys..gon tooward þe grekis. c 1470 Henry Wallace i. 98 Towart Dunbar without restyng thai raid. 1552 Huloet, Torde, vide in toward. 1611 Bible Phil. iii. 14, I presse toward the marke. 1715–20 Pope Iliad xi. 641 The steeds with sounding feet Shake the dry field, and thunder tow'rd the fleet. 1807 J. Barlow Columb. i. 504 Tow'rd the Northern sky..the Hero cast his eye. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. (1890) 233/2 The company of maidens drew Toward where they stood. |
† b. pred. after to be: On the way to. Obs.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 3569 Þe king was toward scottlond. c 1425 Seven Sag. (P.) 660 Toward the deth as he was..He mette with mayster Baucillas. |
† c. With implication of reaching; to. Obs.
| c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 27 Pilgrimes were they alle That toward Caunterbury wolden ryde. c 1425 XI Pains of Hell 238 in O.E. Misc. 218 Vp taward heuen þai con him bryng. 1440 Paston Lett. I. 40 This same weke shall he to ward Fraunce. c 1500 Melusine 102 They departed fro Lusynen and camme to Poytiers toward the Erle. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iv. i. 403, I must away this night toward Padua. 1611 ― Wint. T. v. i. 232 Vpon which Errand I now goe toward him. |
2. Of position: In the direction of; on the side next to; turned or directed to, facing.
| 13.. Cursor M. 2474 (Cott.) Abram chese him toward þe est. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 235 Alway his face was toward þe sonne. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxxii. 147 Þat tyme occupied Cristen men many cuntreez toward þase partiez. c 1482 J. Kay tr. Caoursin's Siege of Rhodes (1870) ¶10 Atte fote of a hylle toward the Weste. a 1548 Hall Chron. Hen. V 55 When he entred into the chambre the dukes backe was towarde him. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 306 Under Suth-rey toward the South lieth..Suth-sex. 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) I. 75 This needle..[was] three-square toward the point. 1853 M. Arnold Scholar Gypsy xiii, Have I not passed thee on the wooden bridge..Thy face toward Hinksey and its wintry ridge? |
† b. Beside, near; about, in attendance upon; in the possession of; with. Obs.
| c 1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 110 And þe gretteste with-holde toward þe. c 1400 Brut cxxxii. 136 Harolde..wolde nouȝt departe with his peple of þing þat he hade gete, but helde it al toward [v.r. towards] him-self. 1433 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 423/1 Makyng þo þat beth toward hym to do the same. 1469 in Archæologia XV. 170 The oon key shall abyde toward the wardeyn, and the second toward the maister aboveseid. 1601 Bp. Andrewes Serm., Matt. xxii. 21 (1631) ii. 88 Herod and they that were toward him, being all that they were by Cæsar. |
3. In the direction of (in fig. senses). a. gen.: esp. with words expressing tendency or aim, and followed by an abstract noun expressing state, condition, etc. (In quots. 13.. and 1553 ‘on the way to’: cf. 1 b; in quot. 1600, ‘to’: cf. 1 c.)
| [a 1225 Ancr. R. 120 Tu schalt demen þi suluen wod, þo þu þer touward þouhtest.] 13.. Cursor M. App. ii. 790 (B. M. Add. MS.) What þinges þat I say may To myn felawis.., That I was toward þi buriynge. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 75 That folk may the Ryhte weye se Best assuryd to-warde ther passage. 1553 Respublica iv. iv. 1126 So ye though oppressed with longe aduersitee, Yet doubte not, are towarde wealth & prospiritee. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. vii. 162 His bigge manly voice, Turning againe toward childish trebble, pipes And whistles in his sound. a 1677 Barrow Serm. Eccl. ix. 10 Wks. 1686 III. 224 Incessantly working toward the end for which it was designed. 1818 Southey Ess. (1832) II. 135 There is no danger of our tending toward the same extreme. 1875 Whitney Life Lang. ii. 18 Tracing the history of words toward their origin. 1891 M. Maude Pyrography i. 7 An immense advance has been made toward perfection. |
b. With a noun or pronoun denoting the object of action or feeling: To; against.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 17 Gif we suneȝieð towaard him we sculen gan to bote. c 1200 Ormin 2601 Forr ȝho wass..milde & meoc & bliþe, Ȝa towarrd Godd, ȝa towarrd mann. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 122 Bot wolde god that grace sende, That toward me my lady wende, As I towardes hire wene. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 10049 He is wel wroth toward his wiff. c 1460 Oseney Reg. 123 The seruice..that þe saide chanons schall aquite towarde the Chefe lordes. c 1500 Melusine xxxvii. 297 Now haue I betrayed you..and haue forsworne my self toward you. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. iii. ii. 13 This was a great argument of loue in her toward you. 1785 Liberal Amer. II. 226 To explain the real motives of his conduct toward me in America. 1813 Southey Nelson II. vi. 84 The policy which ought to be pursued toward the French in Egypt. 1867 R. Collyer Nat. & Life xiii. 247 This is the way in which I act toward my own children. |
† c. With regard to, in reference to, respecting, concerning, about. Also as toward (cf. as to). Obs.
| a 1240 Lofsong in Cott. Hom. 211 Opene ham [my wits] heouenliche king touward heouenliche þinges. c 1300 Becket 765 If thu wolt owȝt toward me, thu wost wel y ne mai noȝt fiȝte. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 34 Wel me qwemeth, That thou thiself hast thus aquit Toward this vice, in which no wit Abide mai. 1433 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 423/2 As toward his abode here..he saide þat he knoweth [etc.]. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VI 96 b, And as towarde the letter sent..vnto my lorde of Bedford of the whiche the tenor is before rehersed. 1564 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 285 Swa that na complaint salbe..maid to the Quenis Majestie towart the saidis contraversiis and debattis. 1670–1 Marvell Corr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 360 On Munday next, when the House will probably proceed severely toward their penaltyes. |
d. In comparison with: = to 18. Now dial.
| 1527–8 in Strype Eccl. Mem. (1721) I. App. xvii. 38 Which bookes..be not to be regarded toward the new printed Testament in Englishe. 1887 S. Chesh. Gloss., To'art as, in comparison with. |
4. Of time: So as to approach; at the approach of, nearly as late or as far on as, shortly before, near.
| 14.. Torr. Portugal (E.E.T.S.) Fragm. ii. 511 It drewe towarde the nyght. ? a 1500 Wycket (1828) p. ii, Towarde the laste dayes the kynge of the northe shall come. 1797 Holcroft tr. Stolberg's Trav. (ed. 2) III. lxxx. 240 Toward the conclusion of their independence. 1802 M. Cutler in Life, etc. (1888) II. 89 Gentlemen most accustomed to speaking..were principally to wait till toward the close of the debate. 1844 Southey Life A. Bell I. 54 Toward the close of October letters..had reached him by way of Glasgow. 1876 Stedman Victorian Poets 103 At dates well toward the middle of this century. |
5. † a. Of condition or quality: Verging upon, near; somewhat like, nearly, as if; toward blackness, somewhat or nearly black. Obs.
| 1533 Elyot Cast. Helthe (1541) N iij, Whan the bladder is towarde any syckenes. 1562 Turner Herbal ii. 153 The Thlaspi y{supt} cometh out of Cappadocia is toward blacknes, and the sede is not fully rounde. 1566 Blundevil Horsemanship iv. iv. (1580) 3 It is best knowne, whether a Horse be sicke or not, or toward sicknesse, by these signes. |
b. Of quantity: Nearly as much as, nearly.
| c 1449 Pecock Repr. i. iv. (Rolls) 20 Welnyȝ or weel toward the al hool lawe with which Cristen men ben chargid. 1879 S. C. Bartlett Egypt to Pal. xxi. 453 They rise..toward a hundred feet above the plain. |
6. In prospect of; in the imminence of; (as predicate) in preparation for. Obs. or arch.
| 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 327 b, When Crassus was towarde a iourney into Syria. 1576 Gascoigne Steele Gl. (Arb.) 79 Towarde shipwracke, many men can pray. 1865 Swinburne Atalanta 877, [I] stand, girt as they toward hunting. |
† b. Coming upon, ‘in store for’; usually of evil: ready to fall upon, threatening. Obs.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce i. 82 Þai couth nocht persawe þe skaith Þat towart þaim wes apperand. 1606 G. W[oodcocke] Hist. Ivstine xxvi. 94 By the inwardes of those beasts, perceiuing..that there was toward them a great slaughter. 1609 Holland Amm. Marcell. 399 All which..plainely shewed, that this kind of death was toward him. |
7. In the way of contribution to; as a help to; for the purpose of making up, promoting, assisting, or the like; for.
| 1468 in Blades Caxton (1882) 151 Hit is accorded that [they] shall haue in honde xl li sterling towarde thoire costs & charges. 1483 Cely Papers (Camden) 144 To pay thys hallff ȝerys wages..here ys nothyng toward hytt. c 1530 H. Rhodes Bk. Nurture 655 in Babees Bk. 100 Giue the pore of thy good; Part thou therof toward their want. 1662–3 Marvell Corr. Wks. (Gros.) II. 83, I have writ this same..to prepare our correspondence toward your service. 1710 Swift Jrnl. to Stella 5 Oct., Here is two and eight⁓pence halfpenny toward your loss. 1828 Southey Ess. (1832) II. 273 Raising a fund..toward the expenses of removing paupers by emigration. |
8. For to{ddd}-ward, separated by the n. or pron., as in to us-ward, to God-ward, see -ward, and cf. to prep. 2 e.