Downward Meaning
/ˈdaʊnwɚd/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
advToward a lower level, whether in physical space, in a hierarchy, or in amount or value.
advAt a lower level.
Sentence Examples
The hill slopes downward to the river.
The water runs downward to the pond.
I was looking downward to the bottom of the valley.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The plane began a ____ spiral after the engine failed suddenly.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The hill slopes ____ to the river.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree English down Proto-Indo-European *wert-der. Proto-Germanic *wardaz Old English -weard English -ward English downward From down + -ward.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"[A] ring the county wears, / That downward hath succeeded in his house / From son to son, some four or five descents"
— c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene vii]:
"They call her Daffadill: / Whoſe preſence as ſhe went along, / The prety flowers did greet, / As though their heads they downward bent, / With homage to her feete."
— 1606?, Michaell Drayton [i.e., Michael Drayton], “The Ninth Eglog”, in Poemes Lyrick and Pastorall. […], London: […] R. B[radock] for N[icholas] L[ing] and I[ohn] Flasket, →OCLC; republished in Poemes Lyrick and Pastorall (Publications of the Spenser Society, New Series; 4), [Manchester: […] Charles E. Simms] for the Spenser Society, 1891, →OCLC, page 94:
"Novv you muſt bee ſure […] to carry the point or top of the Rod dovvnevvard; by vvhich meanes the ſhadovv of your ſelfe, and Rod too vvill be the leaſt offenſive to the Fiſh, for the ſight of any ſhadovv amazes the fiſh, and ſpoiles your ſport, of vvhich you muſt take a great care."
— 1653, Iz[aak] Wa[lton], chapter IV, in The Compleat Angler or The Contemplative Man’s Recreation. Being a Discourse of Fish and Fishing, […], London: […] T. Maxey for Rich[ard] Marriot, […], →OCLC; reprinted as The Compleat Angler (Homo Ludens; 6), Nieuwkoop, South Holland, Netherlands: Miland Publishers, 1969, →ISBN, page 109:
"[T]heir Sight was so directed downward, that they did not readily see Objects that were above them […]"
— 1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, page 71:
"Down, downward they went, and yet further down—their descent at each step seeming to outmeasure their advance."
— 1878 January–December, Thomas Hardy, “The Halt on the Turnpike-road”, in The Return of the Native […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], published 1878, →OCLC, book I (The Three Women), page 73:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The plane began a ____ spiral after the engine failed suddenly.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The hill slopes ____ to the river.