Adoune

Part of speech: adverb, preposition

Definitions

1. Archaic term meaning downward or down from a higher place, as used in Middle English writing
2. An old word for moving or lying downward from an elevated position, found in medieval texts
3. Obsolete adverb signifying a descent or direction toward a lower point, common in early English

Etymology: "Adoune" is an Middle English word meaning "down" or "downward," and it survives today mainly in poetry and old texts. It was formed by combining the preposition "a" (meaning "on" or "in," as in "abed" or "aside") with "doune," the Middle English form of "down." The "a-" element is an old prefix from Old English "on," which was used in this way to build many adverbs and prepositional phrases, so "adoune" literally meant something like "on down" or "in the downward direction." The "down" half has a lovely physical origin. It comes from Old English "dūn," meaning a hill, and the phrase "of dūne" meant "from the hill," so going down was originally going off a height. Because that sense lingered through the phrase "adown the hill," the word for a descending slope kept its place in English for centuries. Over time "adoune" was largely replaced by plain "down," but it remained in literary use, where poets reached for it for its archaic sound.