Backward means facing or going in the direction behind you. The opposite way from the one you are pointed.
British English usually adds an s for the adverb, giving walked backwards, and keeps backward for the adjective, as in a backward glance. American English uses backward for both. There is an offensive older sense meaning slow to develop, applied to people and to countries, and it should be avoided entirely. English has a nice understatement in not backward in coming forward, meaning very willing to speak up.
1adjectivebackwardDirected towards the back or the rear.
“She left without a backward glance.”
2adverbtowardsTowards the back.
“He stepped backward off the kerb.”
Also accepted in games: backwards
Middle English
bakwarde
English, today
backward
From Middle English bakwarde, abakward, equivalent to back + -ward. Cognate with Old Frisian bekward (“backward”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA