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Towards vs From - What's the difference?

towards | from |

As prepositions the difference between towards and from

is that towards is variant of toward while from is with the source or provenance of or at.

As an adverb towards

is (obsolete) in the direction of something (indicated by context).

As an adjective towards

is (obsolete) near; at hand; in state of preparation; toward.

towards

English

Preposition

(en-prep) (mainly in British English )
  • Variant of toward.
  • * 1835 , Sir , Sir (James Clark Ross), Narrative of a Second Voyage in Search of a North-west Passage …, Volume 1 , pp.284-5
  • Towards the following morning, the thermometer fell to 5°; and at daylight, there was not an atom of water to be seen in any direction.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=October 1, author=Phil McNulty, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= Everton 0-2 Liverpool , passage=But with Goodison Park openly directing its full hostility towards Atkinson, Liverpool went ahead when Carroll turned in his first Premier League goal of the season after 70 minutes.}}

    Synonyms

    * toward

    Usage notes

    * Although some have tried to discern a semantic distinction between the words (term) and (towards), the difference is merely dialectal. (term) is the most common form, while (toward) tends to appear only in American English.

    See also

    * See

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • (obsolete) In the direction of something (indicated by context).
  • * 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , II.iv:
  • Thus as he spake, lo far away they spyde / A varlet running towards hastily [...].

    Adjective

    (-)
  • (obsolete) Near; at hand; in state of preparation; toward.
  • * Shakespeare
  • We have a trifling foolish banquet / Towards .

    Statistics

    * English prepositions

    from

    English

    Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • With the source or provenance of or at.
  • :
  • *
  • *:Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out.. Ikey the blacksmith had forged us a spearhead after a sketch from a picture of a Greek warrior; and a rake-handle served as a shaft.
  • *, chapter=12
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=There were many wooden chairs for the bulk of his visitors, and two wicker armchairs with red cloth cushions for superior people. From the packing-cases had emerged some Indian clubs,
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=72-3, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= A punch in the gut , passage=Mostly, the microbiome is beneficial. It helps with digestion and enables people to extract a lot more calories from their food than would otherwise be possible. Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism.}}
  • With the origin, starting point or initial reference of or at.
  • :
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=8 , passage=The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again; for, even after she had conquered her love for the Celebrity, the mortification of having been jilted by him remained.}}
  • With the separation, exclusion or differentiation of.
  • :
  • *{{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= Katrina G. Claw
  • , title= Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm , volume=101, issue=3, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=In plants, the ability to recognize self from nonself plays an important role in fertilization, because self-fertilization will result in less diverse offspring than fertilization with pollen from another individual.}}

    Synonyms

    * (with the source or provenance of or at) out of

    Statistics

    *