Clockwise

Part of speech: adverb

Pronunciation: /ˈklɒkwaɪz/

Definitions

1. This term describes the direction of movement that mirrors the progression of a clock's hands from a top-down perspective
2. This descriptor characterizes a direction of rotation that mimics the circular motion of clock hands as seen from an overhead viewpoint
3. Moving in the same circular path as the hands of a clock turn when viewed from above

Etymology: Clockwise is a plain compound: "clock" plus the suffix "-wise", which comes from Old English "-wīs" and means "in the manner or direction of." The "-wise" element is ancient and still productive, as in "likewise" and "otherwise," and it survives in English as a way of naming a direction of motion. The "clock" part has a longer journey. It descends from Medieval Latin "clocca," meaning "bell," which passed into Old Dutch and Middle Dutch as "klocke," and reached Middle English as "clokke." Early clocks were mechanisms that struck bells to mark the hours, so the instrument took its name from the bell it rang, and the bell's name eventually came to describe the timepiece itself. Put together, "clockwise" describes motion that follows the way the hands of such a timepiece turn when viewed from above, an everyday reference that depends on a bell-ringing machine.

Synonyms: rightward

Antonyms: counterclockwise