Toward vs Inward - What's the difference?
toward | inward |
In the direction of.
:
*(Bible), (w) xxiv. 1
*:He set his face toward the wilderness.
*
*:Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear.
In relation to (someone or something).
:
*(Bible), (w)
*:His eye shall be evil toward his brother.
For the purpose of attaining (an aim).
:
Located close to; near (a time or place).
:
*(Jonathan Swift) (1667–1745)
*:I am toward nine years older since I left you.
(obsolete) Future; to come.
* 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , II.iv:
(dated) Approaching, coming near; impending; present, at hand.
* Shakespeare
* 1843 , '', book 2, ch. XV, ''Practical — Devotional
Yielding, pliant; docile; ready or apt to learn; not froward.
(obsolete, or, archaic) Promising, likely; froward.
Situated on the inside; that is within, inner; belonging to the inside.
(obsolete) Intimate, closely acquainted; familiar.
*, II.3:
*:There is nothing can be added unto the daintinesse of Fulvius'' wives death, who was so inward with ''Augustus .
* Bible, Job xix. 19
* Sir Philip Sidney
Towards the inside.
(obsolete, chiefly, in the plural) That which is inward or within; the inner parts or organs of the body; the viscera.
* Milton
(obsolete, chiefly, in the plural) The mental faculties.
(obsolete) A familiar friend or acquaintance.
* Shakespeare
In obsolete|lang=en terms the difference between toward and inward
is that toward is (obsolete) future; to come while inward is (obsolete) a familiar friend or acquaintance.As adjectives the difference between toward and inward
is that toward is (obsolete) future; to come while inward is situated on the inside; that is within, inner; belonging to the inside.As a preposition toward
is in the direction of.As an adverb inward is
towards the inside.As a noun inward is
(obsolete|chiefly|in the plural) that which is inward or within; the inner parts or organs of the body; the viscera.toward
English
Preposition
(en-prep) (mainly in American English)Synonyms
* towardsUsage notes
* Although some have tried to discern a semantic distinction between the words (term) and (towards), the difference is merely dialectal. (term) is more common in American English and (towards) is the predominant form in British English.Adjective
(-)- ere that wished day his beame disclosd, / He either enuying my toward good, / Or of himselfe to treason ill disposd / One day vnto me came in friendly mood [...].
- Do you hear aught, sir, of a battle toward ?
- On the morrow […] orders the Cellerarius to send off his carpenters to demolish the said structure brevi manu , and lay up the wood in safe keeping. Old Dean Herbert, hearing what was toward , comes tottering along hither, to plead humbly for himself and his mill.
- Why, that is spoken like a toward prince. ? Shakespeare.
Statistics
* American Englishinward
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- All my inward friends abhorred me.
- He had had occasion, by one very inward with him, to know in part the discourse of his life.
Derived terms
* inwards * inwardly * inwardnessAdverb
(en adverb)- So much the rather, thou Celestial Light, Shine inward . — Milton.
Noun
(en noun)- (Jeremy Taylor)
- Then sacrificing, laid the inwards and their fat.
- I was an inward of his.