Northwardly

Part of speech: adverb, adjective

Definitions

1. Moving or facing in a direction toward the north, away from the south
2. Describing motion or orientation that heads toward the northern point of the compass
3. Pointing or travelling in the general direction of north on a map or compass

Etymology: "Northwardly" is a plain compound: the adjective-and-adverb "northward," meaning toward the north, with the suffix "-ly" added to it. "Northward" itself is built from "north" and the old directional ending "-ward," which has long been used to turn a direction into a movement toward that direction. Adding "-ly" lets the word work as an adjective ("a northwardly course") as well as an adverb ("the ship sailed northwardly"). The suffix "-ly" comes from Old English "-lic," a word meaning "body" or "form" that gradually became a general marker of adjectives and adverbs. Pairing it with "northward" produces a word that is essentially a doubled sense of direction, though the extra ending adds little meaning beyond what "northward" already carries. It is a useful example of how English stacks endings onto existing words when a slightly different grammatical role is needed.

Synonyms: northward

Antonyms: southwardly, southward