a native English suffix denoting spatial or temporal direction, as specified by the initial element: toward; seaward; afterward; backward.
Also, -wards .
[ ME; OE -weard towards; c. G -wärts; akin to L vertere to turn (see VERSE) ]
Usage . Both -WARD and -WARDS occur in such words as backward, forward, upward, and toward. The -WARD form is by far the more common in edited American English writing.