inward

inward

English

Etymology

From Middle English inward, from Old English inweard, corresponding to in +‎ -ward.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɪnwəd/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

inward (comparative more inward, superlative most inward)

1. Situated on the inside; that is within, inner; belonging to the inside. [from 9th c.]
2. (obsolete) Intimate, closely acquainted; familiar. [16th-17th c.]
   • 1603, John Florio, transl.; Michel de Montaigne, chapter 3, in The Essayes, […], book II, printed at London: By Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:

     There is nothing can be added unto the daintinesse of Fulvius wives death, who was so inward with Augustus.

   • (Can we date this quote?) Bible, Job xix. 19

     All my inward friends abhorred me.

   • (Can we date this quote?) Sir Philip Sidney

     He had had occasion, by one very inward with him, to know in part the discourse of his life.

Derived terms

• inwards
• inwardly
• inwardness

Translations

on inside

Esperanto: internen Finnish: sisä- (fi), sisäinen (fi), sisäänpäin suuntautunut French: intérieur (fr) German: innere (de) Greek: έσω (el) m (éso), εσώτερος (el) m (esóteros) Kurdish: Sorani: به‌ره‌وژوور‎ (berewjûr), به‌ره‌وناو‎ (berewnaw)

Latin: penitus Maori: ki roto Russian: вну́тренний (ru) (vnútrennij) Spanish: interior (es)

Adverb

inward (comparative more inward, superlative most inward)

1. Towards the inside. [from 11th c.]
   • (Can we date this quote?) John Milton

     So much the rather, thou Celestial Light, / Shine inward.

Translations

toward the inside

Finnish: sisemmäs, sisemmäksi French: vers l'intérieur (fr) German: nach innen (de) Maori: whakaroto, ki roto

Russian: внутрь (ru) (vnutrʹ) Spanish: adentro (es) Walloon: divintrinnmint (wa)

Noun

inward (plural inwards)

1. (obsolete, chiefly in the plural) That which is inward or within; the inner parts or organs of the body; the viscera.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Jeremy Taylor to this entry?)

   • (Can we date this quote?) John Milton

     Then sacrificing, laid the inwards and their fat.

2. (obsolete, chiefly in the plural) The mental faculties.
3. (obsolete) A familiar friend or acquaintance.
   • (Can we date this quote?) William Shakespeare

     I was an inward of his.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for inward in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)

Anagrams

• Darwin, darwin, draw in, drawin', indraw

---

Middle English

Alternative forms

• inwart, ynward, inworde, inwarde, ynvarde, inword, inewarde

Etymology

From Old English inweard; equivalent to in +‎ -ward.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈinward/, /ˈinwaːrd/

Adverb

inward

1. inwards, to the interior, especially referring to:
   1. One's physical existence or body
   2. One's mental state or soul
2. While located within the inside of an entity, especially referring to:
   1. One's physical existence or body
   2. One's mental state or soul

Derived terms

• inwardes

Descendants

• English: inward
• Scots: inward

References

• “in-wā̆rd (adv.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-12.

Adjective

inward (superlative ynwardest)

1. inside, inward, in the interior; the following special senses exist:
   1. For the inside; internal
   2. religious, inside the mind
2. emotionally powerful, emotionally true
3. unknown, esoteric

Derived terms

• inwardly
• inwardnesse

Descendants

• English: inward
• Scots: inward

References

• “in-wā̆rd (adj.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-12.

Noun

inward (plural inwardes)

1. The interior of a given thing
2. innards; guts
3. reasoning, deductive ability

Descendants

• English: inward, innards

References

• “in-wā̆rd (n.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-12.

Preposition

inward

1. To the inside

References

• “in-wā̆rd (prep.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-12.

See also

• outward