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downward

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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It has been requested that this entry be merged with downwards(+).

Etymology

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Etymology tree
English down
Proto-Indo-European *wert-der.
Proto-Germanic *wardaz
Old English -weard
English -ward
English downward

    From down + -ward.

    Pronunciation

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    Adverb

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    downward (not comparable)

    1. Toward a lower level, whether in physical space, in a hierarchy, or in amount or value.
      His position in society moved ever downward.
      The natural disasters put downward pressure on the creditworthiness of the nation’s insurance groups.
    2. At a lower level.
      • 1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 462–463:
        Dagon his Name, Sea Monster, upward Man / And downward Fish […]
    3. Southward.
      • 1927, Havelock Ellis, Studies in the Psychology of Sex‎[1], volume 2:
        If we turn to the New World, we find that among the American Indians, from the Eskimo of Alaska downward to Brazil and still farther south, homosexual customs have been very frequently observed.

    Usage notes

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    • Less common than downwards as an adverb until about 1890 according to Google NGrams. About twice as common since 1920.

    Synonyms

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    Antonyms

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    Derived terms

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    Translations

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    Adjective

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    downward (not comparable)

    1. Moving, sloping or oriented down.
      He spoke with a downward glance.
      • 1593, [William Shakespeare], Venus and Adonis, London: […] Richard Field, […], →OCLC:
        But this foul, grim, and urchin-snouted boar,
        Whose downward eye still looketh for a grave,
        Ne’er saw the beauteous livery that he wore;
      • 1728, [James] Thomson, Spring. A Poem, […] A[ndrew] Millar, […]; and G[eorge] Strahan, […], →OCLC, page 12:
        […] in the Western Sky, the downward Sun
        Looks out illustrious from amid the Flush
        Of broken Clouds […]
      • 1897, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “chapter 28”, in The Invisible Man: A Grotesque Romance, New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC:
        Emerging into the hill-road, Kemp naturally took the downward direction […]
      • 1952, Patricia Highsmith, chapter 7, in The Price of Salt‎[2], Mineola, New York: Dover, published 2015, page 73:
        […] Therese saw a downward slant of sadness in her mouth now, a sadness not of wisdom but of defeat.
      • 1960 December, “The first hundred 25 kV a.c. electric locomotives for B.R.”, in Trains Illustrated, page 728:
        The tractive and braking forces are transmitted to the body through a downward projecting pivot pin in the normal way.
      • 2026 March 18, Peter Plisner, “Tackling broken rails: the skills and technology improving safety”, in RAIL, number 1057, page 31:
        The good news is that data on broken rail incidents is showing a sustained downward trend. And with everything NR is now doing, that trend looks set to continue.
    2. Located at a lower level.
      • 1713, [Alexander] Pope, Windsor-Forest. […], London: […] Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC, page 9:
        In her chast Current oft the Goddess laves,
        And with Celestial Tears augments the Waves.
        Oft in her Glass the musing Shepherd spies
        The headlong Mountains and the downward Skies,
        The watry Landskip of the pendant Woods,
        And absent Trees that tremble in the Floods;
      • 1793, Thomas Taylor (translator), The Phædo in The Cratylus, Phædo, Parmenides and Timæus of Plato, London: Benjamin and John White, p. 235,[3]
        […] often revolving itself under the earth, [the river] flows into the more downward parts of Tartarus.

    Usage notes

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    • Much more common as adjective than downwards.

    Derived terms

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    Translations

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    Anagrams

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