Onward Meaning
/ˈɒnwəd/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjMoving forward.
adjAdvanced in a forward direction or toward an end.
Sentence Examples
Onward it came, smooth-sliding on the ground, / an, beetling, o'er the midmost city frowned.
From that day onward, Saul considered David his enemy.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Despite the heavy rain, the explorers pushed ____ through the thick jungle.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The expedition pressed ____ despite the harsh weather conditions and dwindling food supplies.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂en-der. Proto-Germanic *an Proto-West Germanic *ana Old English on Middle English on English on Proto-Indo-European *wert-der. Proto-Germanic *wardaz Old English -weard English -ward English onward From on + -ward.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Within a while, Philoxenus came to see how onward the fruits were of his friend's labour."
— a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC:
"[…] yonder cloud
That rises upward always higher,
And onward drags a labouring breast,
And topples round the dreary west,
A looming bastion fringed with fire."
— 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XV”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 24:
"Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war..."
— 1871, “Onward, Christian Soldiers”, Sabine Baring-Gould (lyrics):
"The aim of the preacher who in the best sense would be up-to-date should comprize the homiletic method which, while following in a degree the example of the fathers, tries to formulate truth in clear and philosophical statements, not essaying a muddy theology or priding itself on a vague, vacuous mysticism, communing with the great minds of the ages from Augustine down, learning something from each and following none slavishly, at every successive stage in the process of development being able distinctly to set forth th truth ascertained thus far, obeying the onwarding impulse of the true investigator without keeping things forever so "fluid" that no precipitate of dependable doctrine is ever rendered, […]"
— 1907 March, C.A.S. Dwight, “The Concrete and the Idea”, in The Homiletic Review, volume 53, number 3, page 199:
"Or of Kismet (?): whatever happens is pre-ordained, and one can "pass the buck" to something outside of oneself; to Allah, the inscrutable, I suppose, gaining one's spiritual calm from the feeling that the eternal onwardness is calmly onwarding; until little pain and little happiness become spread very very thin on the waters of time."
— 2010, William Davies King, Another Part of a Long Story, page 129:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Despite the heavy rain, the explorers pushed ____ through the thick jungle.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The expedition pressed ____ despite the harsh weather conditions and dwindling food supplies.