Forms: 4–6 bak-, bac-, backward(e, 5 bakeword, 6 bacewarde, (Sc. bakwart), 6–7 backeward, 6– backward. [orig. aphetic form of ABACK-WARD; but subseq. referred directly to BACK: see -WARD. Primarily abackward differed from aback, in expressing direction rather than completed motion; and this still to some extent distinguishes backward from back.] A. adv.
I. Towards one’s back, or the back of anything.
1. Of motion: In the direction of one’s back or of that to which one’s back is turned, as to lean, bend, fall, push, be pushed backward.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron., 190. He smote him in the helm, bakwarde he bare his stroupe.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XIII. xxvi. (1495), 456. By vyolente puttynge of ayre bakward the body of the byrde meuyth forwarde.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, XV. 6636. Bold men bakward borne of hor horses.
1535. Coverdale, 1 Sam. iv. 18. He fell downe bacwarde from the seate … and brake his neck.
1697. Dryden, Virg., Georg., III. 174. Clouds of Sand arise, Spurn’d, and cast backward on the Follower’s Eyes.
1797. Holcroft, Stolberg’s Trav., II. lx. 362. Short horns bent backward.
1813. Examiner, 29 March, 207/1. The bending of the back bone, backward and forward.
1833. Regul. Instr. Cavalry, I. 22. Bending backward or forward is not to be permitted.
b. With verbs of continuous motion, as go, walk, ride, this passes from simple direction, into a description of the constant position of the body in relation to the varying direction of motion; = With the back foremost, with the face to the rear.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 2042. A mantil on his nec he tok & bakward ȝod, als sais þe bok.
1388. Wyclif, Gen. ix. 23. Sem and Jafeth … ȝeden bacward.
1561. Calvin’s 4 Godlye Serm., iv. Like kicking and resty horses, more ready to go backwarde than forward.
1602. Shaks., Ham., II. ii. 206. if like a Crab you could go backward.
1726. Vanbr. & Cibber, Prov. Husb., I. i. (1735), 30. Doll puked a little with riding backward.
1842. J. H. Newman, Par. Serm., V. viii. 124. We walk to heaven backward.
1850. Lytton, My Novel, II. xii. He turned sharply round … and, with his arm still folded on his breast, he walked backward, as if not to lose the view.
c. To go backward: to retire for a necessary purpose (hence said of the action). Obs.
1748. Smollett, Rod. Rand. (1804), I. xi. 59. My companion’s bowels being disordered he got up in order to go backward.
1771. J. S., Le Dran’s Obs. Surg., 185. The Patient … went backward immediately. Ibid., 210. No Discharge backward.
† 2. Of position: With the back towards the front, the company, center of attention, etc. Obs.
c. 1460. Bk. Curtasye, in Babees Bk. (1868), 302. Ne bacwarde sittande gyf noȝt þy cupe.
† 3. Of position: Toward the back or rear of a place; away from the front. arch. or Obs.; commonly back, to the back, at the back.
c. 1460. Towneley Myst., 204. Whi stand ye so bakward?
1673. Wycherley, Gentl. Dancing-Master, I. i. (1735), 12. You know my Chamber is backward, and has a door into the Gallery.
1715. Lond. Gaz., No. 5328/4. A small Scar lying backward under one of his Jaws.
1716–8. Lady Montague, Lett., 36, I. 137. The women’s apartments are always built backward, removed from sight.
1729. Desaguliers, in Phil. Trans., XXXVI. 202. If the Pulley be set backwarder still.
1812. Examiner, 19 Oct., 672/2. Some injury is also done backward.
II. Towards what is behind in position or course.
4. In the direction which, so far as concerns one’s general or ordinary position, is behind one, or from which one is moving, e.g., to look, turn the head backward. arch.; commonly back, behind.
(This connects the present section with I.)
c. 1386. Chaucer, Man of L. T., 764. Sche loketh bakward to the lond.
1388. Wyclif, John xx. 14. Sche turnede bacward, and sai Jhesu stondinge.
a. 1575. Pilkington, Exp. Nehemiah, iv. Wks. (1842), 406. Let us … not look backward but go on forth.
1611. Bible, Gen. ix. 23. Shem and Iaphet … went backward [= 1 b] … and their faces were backward.
1695. Ld. Preston, Boeth., III. 157. That he his Eyes shan’t backward cast.
1728. Young, Love Fame, i. (1757), 84. Men should press forward in fame’s glorious chace; Nobles look backward, and so lose the race.
1855. Browning, in Sat. Rev., No. 4. 69. Whom else could I dare look backward for?
5. In the direction from which one has come, towards the place of starting, in the opposite direction from that in which one has advanced.
Not properly used of persons, animals, etc., where it would be ambiguous; e.g., a ball may roll backward, a stream flow backward, but a man after proceeding so far will begin to walk back or in the opposite direction, not backward, unless in sense 1 b. But see b.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Troylus, IV. 1525. And thou Simois … Returne backwarde to thy well.
1517. Torkington, Pilgr. (1884), 57. We … sumtyme sealyd bakward, sumtyme forward. Ibid., 63. We made Sayle bakward j C myle.
1535. Coverdale, 2 Esdras xvi. 16. Like as an arowe … returneth not bacwarde.
1589. A. Munday, in Arb., Eng. Garner (1877), I. 206. Straightway suspected the matter: and returned backward.
1673. Dryden, Assignat., V. iv. Wks. 1883, IV. 464. Like some impetuous flood, which mastered once, With double force bends backward.
1802. Chron. Scot. Poetry, IV. Introd. 37. The hope … of the Angli began to melt and flow backward.
1827. Keble, Chr. Year, 1st Sund. Christmas, iii. Backward force the waves of Time.
b. Backward and forward: to and fro; also fig. of vacillation, uncertain speech, etc.
1581. Fulke, in Confer., III. (1584), Y iij b. Euen nowe, you denied … and now you graunt it: you go backward and foreward.
1680. Luttrell, Brief Rel. (1857), I. 57. Goeing backward and forward in his accusation.
a. 1711. Ken, Hymnotheo, Poet. Wks. 1721, III. 274. The Serpent wav’d his Carcase … Backward and forward.
a. 1715. Burnet, Own Time (1766), II. 234. The boy went backward and forward in his story.
1793. Smeaton, Edystone L., § 237. Carried backward and forward in the yawls every tide.
1833. Macaulay, Mahon’s War Success., Ess. (1848), II. 93. Imputations … utterly unfounded … were hurled backward and forward by the political disputants.
1878. Huxley, Physiogr., 2. This regular backward-and-forward movement of the great mass of water.
6. In the direction of retreat. (Commonly back.) † To go backward: to recede, retreat; to relapse, backslide (obs.).
1382. Wyclif, Psa. xl. 14. Be thei turned al bacward.
c. 1400. Rom. Rose, 5024. The joy that is eterne, Fro which go bakward Youthe her made.
1535. Coverdale, Isa. i. 4. They haue prouoked the holy one of Israel vnto anger, and are gone bacward. Ibid. (1611). Let them be driuen backward, and put to shame.
1667. Milton, P. L., I. 223. The flames Drivn backward slope their pointing spires.
1821. Byron, Sardan., III. i. 324. They are beaten backward from the palace.
7. fig. Towards a worse state, implying retrogression, check, etc. (More commonly back.)
1583. Stanyhurst, Æneis, II. (Arb.), 55. Al things goa backward.
1601. Shaks., All’s Well, I. i. 233. The fated skye … doth backward pull Our slow designes.
1700. Dryden, Fables, Theodore & Hon., 258 (J.).
| The Work went backward; and the more he strove | |
| T’advance the Sute, the farther from her Love. |
1776. Adam Smith, W. N., I. I. ix. 95. It is a common … opinion that France is going backward.
8. Of time: a. Towards the past; b. In the past. (arch.; commonly back.)
1562. Pilkington, Haggeus, ii. Wks. (1842), 176. He bids them look backward … whole forty years.
1605. Bacon, Adv. Learn., I. v. § 1. By a computation backward from ourselves.
1625. Burges, Pers. Tithes, 55. This Statute extendeth to 40 yeares backe-ward.
1691. T. H[ale], Acc. New Invent., 31. For any number of years backward.
1871. Smiles, Character, xi. (1876), 305. It glorifies the present by the light it casts backward.
III. In the reverse direction or order. [Arising out of 5.]
9. In a direction opposite to the normal one, the reverse way; from end to beginning.
a. 1520. Myrr. our Ladye, 295. Eua turned bacwarde spellyth aue.
1588. Shaks., L. L. L., V. i. 50. What is Ab speld backward with the horn on his head?
1674. Playford, Skill Mus., II. 104. The first Note must be plaid with the bow drawn backward.
1839. Bailey, Festus (1848), 195. Rites forbid and backward-jabbered prayers.
1851. Mayhew, Lond. Labour, I. 23. The root of the costermonger tongue … is to give the words spelt backward.
b. fig. The wrong way, perversely.
1552. Lyndesay, Papyngo, 706. Deuotely saye … The auld Placebo bakwart.
1599. Shaks., Much Ado, III. i. 61. I neuer yet saw man … how rarely featur’d, But she would spell him backward.
10. Phrase: To ring bells backward: to ring them beginning with the bass bell, in order to give alarm of fire or invasion, or express dismay.
c. 1500. Adam Bel, 346, in Hazl., E. P. P., II. 153. There was many an oute horne in Carlyll blowen, And the belles bacewarde did they rynge.
1590. R. Harvey, Plain Perc., 2. I heare the bels ring backward, and the fire runne forward.
1651. Cleveland, Rebel Scot, 5. Ring the Bells backward; I am all on fire.
1672. Wild, Letter, 11. [They] talk’d of Bells and Bonfires; but none … durst begin, for fear they should … when the Parliament meet, be forced to ring the Bells backward.
a. 1832. Scott, Bonnie Dundee. The bells are rung backward, the drums they are beat.
† 11. Contrariwise, e converso, vice versa. Obs.
1607. Bp. Andrewes, Serm., IV. 10. All that ‘rise against,’ are ‘enemies,’ but not backward. For enemies may be such as stand on even ground.
B. adj. [attrib. (often elliptical) use of the adv.; but analogous to adjs. in -WARD of OE. origin.]
1. Directed to the back or rear.
1552. Huloet, Backwarde, recuruus … retrorsus.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., III. 48. With backward Bows the Parthians shall be there.
1882. Mrs. B. M. Croker, Proper Pride, ii. 145. Many regretful backward glances.
1883. Loomis, Treat. Astron., 18. The forward motion of a boat … gives to the banks an appearance of backward motion.
fig. 1860. J. Young, Prov. Reason, 45. The last, dim … point in the backward stretch of the reason.
2. Directed in the opposite way; of or pertaining to return.
1604. Shaks., Oth., I. iii. 38. Their backward course.
1820. Keats, Hyperion, I. 154. With backward footing through the shade.
1870. Bryant, Homer, I. III. 81. And takes the backward way with trembling limbs.
1884. Gt. W. Ry. Time Tables, July, 87. Available for Two Calendar Months for completion of the forward and backward journeys.
3. Done in the reverse way or order; reversed.
1725. Pope, Odyss., II. 124. The backward labours of her faithless hand.
1726. Gay, Fables, I. xxiii. 17. She mumbles forth her backward prayers.
1878. Tait & Stewart, Unseen Univ., vii. § 230. When the backward process has reached this germ.
† 4. Perverse, unfavorable. Obs.
1583. Stanyhurst, Aeneis, I. (Arb.), 18. Stil crost with destenye backward.
a. 1605. Sir J. Melvil, Mem. (1683), 5. Who was so glad as he, to return with this backward answer?
† 5. Placed towards or at the back or rear. Obs.
1610. Shaks., Temp., II. ii. 95. His forward voyce now is to speake well of his friend; his backward voice, is to vtter foule speeches.
1677. Moxon, Mech. Exerc. (1703), 156. The backward Hips … in the way of an Angle for the back part of a Building.
1751. Johnson, Rambl., No. 171, ¶ 9. A lodging in the backward garret of a mean house.
1819. Crabbe, T. of Hall, VII. 572. ‘He … lodges here—he has the backward rooms.’
6. Turning or hanging back from action; disinclined to advance or make advances; reluctant, averse, unwilling, loath, chary; shy, bashful.
1599. Shaks., Hen. V., IV. iii. 72. Perish the man, whose mind is backward now.
1673. Cradock, Knowl. & Pract., I. ii. § 2. Prone to evil, and backward to good.
c. 1680. Beveridge, Serm. (1729), II. 510. Take pains with your backward hearts to bring them to it.
1704. Swift, T. Tub, xi. Wks. 1760, I. 123. The females were nothing backwarder in beholding.
1762. H. Walpole, Vertue’s Anecd. Paint. (1786), II. 77. The … nobility were not backward with presents of the same nature.
1782. Priestley, Corrupt. Chr., I. I. 13. The apostles were never backward to combat other Jewish prejudices.
1826. Disraeli, Viv. Grey, I. i. 2. Percy Metcalfe … was quite as backward as Vivian; indeed, backwarder.
7. Behindhand in respect of time or progress, late.
1693. Luttrell, Brief Rel. (1857), III. 15. Which will occasion the French to be 6 weeks backwarder in their preparations.
1777. Hume, Ess. & Treat., II. 43. A very backward scholar.
1845. Ford, Handbk. Spain, § 1. 21. The inns of Spain are in that backward state in which those of Sicily are.
1871. Markby, Elem. Law, § 530. The law is here certainly in a backward condition.
1883. trans. Renan’s Recoll. Youth, 24. If a child was backward in learning to walk.
b. esp. of the season or crops.
1616. Surflet & Markh., Countr. Farm, 28. The yeare will proue backward.
1789. Mrs. Piozzi, Journ. France, I. 8. Harvest … is extremely backward this year.
1812. Examiner, 5 Oct., 629/2. Turnips, a fair crop, although backward.
1836. Athenæum, No. 440. 241. The season though somewhat backward promises an abundant harvest.
8. Reaching into the past.
c. 1650. Select. Harl. Misc. (1793), 401. A tax backward, to be paid over again.
1725. Pope, Odyss., III. 122. Far as thy mind thro’ backward time can see.
1812. Byron, Ch. Har., II. xxiv. Each backward year.
C. sb. [The adj. or adv. used absolutely.]
† 1. lit. The hinder part of the body. Obs.
1627. Massinger, Gt. Dk. Flor., II. i. I should Have kissed her backward.
2. poet. The past portion (of time).
1610. Shaks., Temp., I. ii. 50. What see’st thou else In the dark backward and abisme of Time?
1870. Lowell, Study Wind., 91. One volume of contemporary memoirs … will throw more light into the dark backward of time than [etc.].
