Adown

Part of speech: adverb

Pronunciation: /əˈdaʊn/

Definitions

1. In a manner that indicates a downward trajectory, often related to physical placement or figurative decline
2. Used to express the motion or orientation towards a lower point, frequently found in poetic and literary contexts
3. In a way that suggests a movement or direction towards a lower position, commonly encountered in artistic or descriptive language

Etymology: Old English speakers had a simple way to say "off the hill": they put "of" in front of "dūne," the word for a hill, and the phrase became a single adverb meaning downward. The word is recorded as "ofdūne" before it was shortened to "adūn" and then Middle English "adoun." The hill is still visible in it: "dūne" meant a hill or rising ground, the same root that later gave English "down" its sense of descending. (The modern "down" is a related word, so "adown" is an older form of it, though "down" itself came through a different route.) The same pattern appears in other languages. Latin speakers said "ad vallum," meaning "to the rampart," and French used "à val," meaning "to the valley," in the same downhill sense. In each case, a phrase built around a landscape feature turned into a single word for moving down a slope.

Synonyms: downward, below

Antonyms: upward