Dictionary

towardly en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈtəʊ(w)ədli/ (UK)
• /ˈtɔɹdli/ (US)

Etymology

From Middle English towardly; equivalent to toward + -ly.

Meanings

1. Promising, propitious.
   • What wants there to such a towardly and pregnant soile, but wise and faithfull labourers, to make a knowing people, a Nation of Prophets, of Sages, and of Worthies. 1644, John Milton, Areopagitica:
   • My Son Johnny, named ſo after his Uncle, was at the Grammar School, and a towardly Child. My daughter Betty (who is now well married, and has Children) was then at her Needle-Work. 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Author, by a Lucky Accident, Finds Means to Leave Blefuscu; and, after Some Difficulties, Returns Safe to his Native Country.”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part I (A Voyage to Lilliput), page 147:

Forms

Deriveds

towardliness