Etymograph

English

towards

Towards comes from Middle English towardes, from Old English tōweardes, equivalent to toward + adverbial -s.

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150tōweardes1‘towards’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500towardes1‘in the direction of’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1590towards1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English towards
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book II, Canto IV: “Thus as he spake, lo far away they spyde…”.

Lineage

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150tōweardesWiktionary, English towards‘towards’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500towardesWiktionary, English towards‘in the direction of’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1590towardsWiktionary, English towards. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book II, Canto IV: “Thus as he spake, lo far away they spyde…”

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Today it means

prep In the direction of something (indicated by context).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “towards”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Old English tōweardes / towards