Inward

Part of speech: adjective, adverb

Pronunciation: /ˈɪnwəd/

Definitions

1. Moving in the direction of one's interior or center
2. Going or facing the inner side or core, rather than outward or away from a center
3. Proceeding in the direction of the middle or internal region of an object or space

Etymology: Old English "inweard" was built from "in," meaning "in" or "inside," and "-weard," a suffix meaning "turned toward" or "in the direction of." Its ancestor "-ward" still appears in words like "homeward" and "backward," so "inward" is simply the direction of "in" made into a word of its own. Its earliest English sense was spatial: a path, a movement, or a gaze pointed toward the interior of something. Middle English inherited the word and kept the same plain sense, so it is a native English formation rather than a borrowing from Latin or French, despite the many formal-sounding words around it. The adverb and adjective uses grew from that spatial core, so a person's thoughts, a feeling, or a quiet state of mind could also be called "inward" once it was understood as turned toward the self.

Synonyms: internal, inner

Antonyms: outward, external