Toward in different languages

Toward in Different Languages

Discover 'Toward' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.

Updated on March 6, 2024

The word 'toward' is a small but powerful preposition in the English language, indicating movement, direction, or approach. It carries a sense of progression, of moving closer to a goal or destination, and is used in a variety of contexts to convey this meaning.

Throughout history, the concept of 'toward' has been a fundamental aspect of human culture and society. From ancient maps and navigation tools to modern-day GPS systems, the idea of moving in a specific direction has been a guiding principle for explorers, travelers, and adventurers around the world.

Understanding the translation of 'toward' in different languages can be a valuable tool for anyone looking to expand their linguistic and cultural horizons. For example, in Spanish, 'toward' is translated as 'hacia', while in French, it becomes 'vers'. In German, the word is 'zu', and in Japanese, it is '方向' (houkou).

By learning these translations, you can gain a deeper appreciation for the cultural nuances and linguistic subtleties that exist in different parts of the world. So whether you're a language enthusiast, a world traveler, or simply someone looking to broaden their horizons, exploring the many translations of 'toward' is a great place to start.

Toward


Toward in Sub-Saharan African Languages

Afrikaansin die rigting van
The Afrikaans preposition "in die rigting van" (toward) is a calque of the Dutch preposition "in de richting naar" (toward), which is itself derived from the Middle Dutch phrase "in de richtinge na" (toward).
Amharicወደ
"ወደ" means "into" or "in" when it is used in a place name, e.g., ወደ ማይ.
Hausazuwa
In Niger-Congo, 'zuwa' (towards) is cognate with 'zowa' meaning 'arrive at'}
Igbon'ebe
The word "n'ebe" can also mean "direction" or "way" in Igbo.
Malagasyamin'ny
The Malagasy word 'amin'ny' is a contraction of the phrase 'mankany any,' meaning 'to go to.'
Nyanja (Chichewa)kulunjika
Kulunjika also means 'facing', 'looking at', or 'in the direction of'.
Shonaakananga
"Akananga" can also mean "in the direction of," "in the charge of," or "on the part of."
Somalixagga
The word "xagga" can also be used to describe the act of moving towards something.
Sesothomalebana le
"Malebana le" also means "on behalf of" or "concerning".
Swahilikuelekea
Kuelekea is also the name given to various Bantu ethnic groups found in the Great Lakes area of Central/East Africa.
Xhosamalunga
The word "malunga" can also mean "along" or "near" in Xhosa.
Yorubasi
Yoruba “si” also denotes a movement toward the speaker, as opposed to “lo,” which connotes movement away from the speaker.
Zulungase
Ngase, meaning 'toward,' shares roots with the noun 'ukuse' (to use), suggesting a literal translation of 'toward use'.
Bambaraye
Eweɖo ta
Kinyarwandayerekeza
Lingalana ngambo ya
Lugandaeri
Sepediya go
Twi (Akan)rekɔ

Toward in North African & Middle Eastern Languages

Arabicباتجاه
The Arabic word "باتجاه" can also mean "by way of" or "in the direction of".
Hebrewלקראת
The Hebrew word “לקראת” not only means “toward” but also “before” or “in honor of”.
Pashtoپه لور
The word "په لور" in Pashto can also mean "on the side of" or "in the direction of".
Arabicباتجاه
The Arabic word "باتجاه" can also mean "by way of" or "in the direction of".

Toward in Western European Languages

Albaniandrejt
In Albanian, "drejt" can also mean "straight" or "right".
Basquenorabidean
The word "norabidean" is the Basque version of the Spanish preposition "hacia". It can also be used to mean "about" or "approximately".
Catalancap a
Cap a is an archaic form of cap, used in the Balearic Islands.
Croatianprema
While “prema” commonly means “toward,” it can also mean “according to” in some contexts.
Danishimod
The word "imod" comes from the Old Norse word "ímót", meaning "against" or "opposite."
Dutchnaar
"Naar", a common Dutch preposition meaning "toward", also refers to the "near" in English and "ner" in French, all tracing their origins to an ancient Indo-European term for close proximity.
Englishtoward
Toward, a preposition indicating direction, is derived from the same root that gives us 'turn'
Frenchvers
The French word "vers" also means "poetry" or "a line of poetry" from its Late Latin form "versus," meaning "a turning," because a line of poetry or verse ends with a turn that leads to the next line.
Frisiannei
The word "nei" can also mean "at" or "in" in Frisian.
Galiciancara a
The Galician word "cara a" can also mean "on the back" or "on the opposite side".
Germanzu
The word "zu" in German can also mean "closed" or "locked".
Icelandicí átt að
The word "í átt að" (toward) is derived from the Old Norse words "í" (in) and "átt" (direction) and can also mean "in the direction of" or "toward to accomplish something".
Irishi dtreo
"I dtreo" is also the preposition "at" followed by masculine nouns.
Italianverso
The word "verso" also means "back of a book page" or "recto".
Luxembourgishrichtung
Richtung "(toward)" originated from OHG "rihtunga" "to set up" and got its present meaning "(toward)" in MHG
Malteselejn
The lejn derives from the Arabic word ‘lejna’ (لجن), which can mean ‘to go’ or ‘to turn’.
Norwegianmot
The Norwegian word "mot" can also mean courage or spirit, and is related to the English word "mood".
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil)em direção a
The Portuguese word "em direção a" can also mean "in the direction of" or "towards".
Scots Gaelica dh’ionnsaigh
Historically an independent preposition but used only as a prefix as part of various other verbs from the 18th century onwards.
Spanishhacia
The word "hacia" can also mean "about" or "around" in Spanish.
Swedishmot
The word "mot" can also refer to a meeting or an encounter.
Welshtuag at
The word "tuag at" in Welsh can also mean "towards" or "in the direction of".

Toward in Eastern European Languages

Belarusianнасустрач
The word "насустрач" can also mean "to meet" or "to welcome".
Bosnianprema
‘Prema’ - used when referring to time, meaning ‘ago’
Bulgarianкъм
"Към" also means "for", as in "за към" (for about)"
Czechsměrem k
"Směrem k" can also mean "direction of" as in "Směrem k domu" (Direction of the house).
Estonianpoole
The word "poole" can also mean "towards" or "in the direction of" in Estonian.
Finnishkohti
The word "kohti" can also mean "face" or "place," highlighting its spatial and directional aspects
Hungarianfelé
The word "felé" can also mean "up to" or "about".
Latvianuz
The word "uz" in Latvian is also used in contexts of clothing, signifying something being worn on a person.
Lithuanianlink
The word "link" in Lithuanian can also mean "to fly" or "to jump".
Macedonianкон
The word "кон" is thought to be derived from the Proto-Slavic word "*konъ", meaning "towards, to, until"
Polishw kierunku
It is also used as a postposition to indicate the destination of a movement or action, e.g.
Romanianspre
"Spre" derives from Latin "ex-per" and can also mean "over", "through" like in Bulgarian or Serbian, but it has lost this usage except for some idioms.
Russianк
"К" is also used in Russian to indicate an object's position, or its proximity to another object.
Serbianпрема
Prema can also mean 'according to' or 'depending on', and it is derived from the Proto-Slavic root *prěmъ, which also meant 'toward'.
Slovaksmerom k
Although its etymology is unclear, the word smerom can also mean "in the direction of" or "in the area of."
Slovenianproti
The word 'proti' also means 'against' and is related to the Latin word 'por' meaning 'forward'.
Ukrainianдо
The Ukrainian word "до" can also mean "until" or "before", depending on the context.

Toward in South Asian Languages

Bengaliদিকে
"দিকে" also means "in the direction of" and "towards."
Gujaratiતરફ
The Gujarati word "તરફ" ("toward") can also be used to denote a "side" or "direction" in a more general sense.
Hindiकी ओर
की ओर is a compound word formed from the Sanskrit words "ka" (towards) and "or" (down).
Kannadaಕಡೆಗೆ
The Kannada word "ಕಡೆಗೆ" also means 'at last', 'finally' or 'in the end'.
Malayalamനേരെ
The word "നേരെ" in Malayalam also means "straight" or "exactly".
Marathiदिशेने
"दिशेने" is derived from the Sanskrit word "दिशा" (direction) and has the additional meaning of "in the direction of" or "towards".
Nepaliतिर
The word "तिर" (tir) also means "arrow" or "direction" in Nepali.
Punjabiਵੱਲ
"ਵੱਲ" (toward) also means "side" or "direction," and is cognate with the Sanskrit word "valli" (creeper, branch).
Sinhala (Sinhalese)දෙසට
"දෙසට" can also mean "direction" or "area".
Tamilநோக்கி
Teluguవైపు
The term "వైపు" (toward) can also mean "direction" or "side" in Telugu.
Urduکی طرف
In Urdu, "کی طرف" not only means "toward" but can also mean "on behalf of" or "for the sake of" in certain contexts.

Toward in East Asian Languages

Chinese (Simplified)
"朝" originally referred to the 'east,' and can still be used to refer to 'east' or 'toward the east.'
Chinese (Traditional)
'朝' can also be used as a noun, meaning 'court' or 'dynasty'.
Japaneseに向かって
The word "に向かって" also means to direct oneself to (a person, place, object)."
Korean...쪽으로
쪽 can also mean 'the side of a building' or 'a place where something is facing'.
Mongolianруу
As a homophone, "руу" can also refer to an "era" or a "season" of events and time.
Myanmar (Burmese)ဆီသို့

Toward in South East Asian Languages

Indonesianterhadap
The word 'terhadap' comes from the Sanskrit word 'abhi', with similar meanings of 'toward' and 'over against'.
Javanesenuju
The term "nuju" in Javanese, besides meaning "toward," also connotes "facing" or "aimed at."
Khmerឆ្ពោះទៅរក
The word "ឆ្ពោះទៅរក" can also mean to approach or move closer to something.
Laoຕໍ່
The Lao word "ຕໍ່" can also mean "to be continued," "to continue," or "furthermore."
Malaymenuju
The etymology of "menuju" suggests its original meaning, "to go along the riverbank".
Thaiไปทาง
“ไปทาง” can also mean “tend to” and “tend towards” when used in the context of describing a direction or tendency.
Vietnamesehướng tới
Hướng tới also means "to tend towards" or "to move towards" in Vietnamese.
Filipino (Tagalog)patungo sa

Toward in Central Asian Languages

Azerbaijaniistiqamətində
The word
Kazakhқарай
"Қарай" can also mean "along" or "by" in Kazakh, and is related to the word "қару" ("to see") and "қарау" ("to look").
Kyrgyzкөздөй
"Көздөй" (toward) also means "looking at" or "facing."
Tajikба сӯи
The word "ба сӯи" can also mean "against" or "in the direction of" depending on the context.
Turkmentarapa
Uzbektomonga
The word "tomonga" can also mean "direction" or "way" in Uzbek.
Uyghurتەرەپكە

Toward in Pacific Languages

Hawaiiani mua o
The Hawaiian word "i mua o" can also mean "front" or "first place".
Maoriki
Ki, meaning 'toward,' also denotes a purpose or function as in the idiom 'ki te whakakotahi,' meaning 'to unite' or 'to gather together'
Samoanagaʻi i
The word can also refer to "direction," "towards," "destination" and "purpose"}
Tagalog (Filipino)patungo sa
The word "patungo sa" in Tagalog can also mean "on the way to" or "heading towards".

Toward in American Indigenous Languages

Aymarauksaru
Guaranigotyo

Toward in International Languages

Esperantoal
The Esperanto word "al" is derived from the English word "all," and also means "in the direction of" or "completely."
Latinad
The Latin word 'ad' also means 'in addition to', 'plus', or 'on top of'.

Toward in Others Languages

Greekπρος
The word "προς" can also mean "near", "against", or "in addition to".
Hmongrau
The Hmong word "rau" can also have the alternate meaning of "to pursue, to seek."
Kurdishdijî
The Kurdish word "dijî" not only means "toward" but also "to do something to or for" or "to be in agreement with".
Turkishdoğru
The word "doğru" can also mean "correct" or "truth" in Turkish, depending on the context.
Xhosamalunga
The word "malunga" can also mean "along" or "near" in Xhosa.
Yiddishצו
The word "צו" in Yiddish also has the meanings "for", "due to", or "because of".
Zulungase
Ngase, meaning 'toward,' shares roots with the noun 'ukuse' (to use), suggesting a literal translation of 'toward use'.
Assameseদিশে
Aymarauksaru
Bhojpuriका ओर
Dhivehiދިމާއަށް
Dogriतगर
Filipino (Tagalog)patungo sa
Guaranigotyo
Ilocanopapan ti
Krioto
Kurdish (Sorani)بەرەو
Maithiliक' दिस
Meiteilon (Manipuri)ꯃꯥꯏꯀꯩꯔꯣꯝꯗ
Mizolamah
Oromogara
Odia (Oriya)ଆଡକୁ
Quechuahacia
Sanskritविमुख
Tatarягына
Tigrinyaንቕድሚት
Tsongakuya eka

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