Other forms: forwards
Forward means directed towards the front. Move forward, forward planning, the forward line.
As an adverb British English prefers forwards for movement and forward for the rest, and American English uses forward for both. In football a forward is an attacking player. Applied to a person, forward means too bold or familiar — a forward young man — which is dated and was once a serious criticism. Note look forward to; and forward as a verb, meaning to send on.
1adjectiveforwardDirected towards the front.
“The children practised doing forward rolls on the mat.”
2nounattackingAn attacking player in football.
“The club signed a fast young forward to score more goals.”
Too few real examples of this word to estimate which sense is commonest.
forward is a direction or a player.
Old English foreweard is fore plus -weard, the suffix meaning turned towards. Toward, backward and inward are built the same way.
Proto-Germanic
*fura- — fore-
Old English
foreweard — forward, inclined to the front, fore, early, former
Middle English
foreward
English, today
forward
Built from
From Middle English foreward, from Old English foreweard (“forward, inclined to the front, fore, early, former”), from Proto-Germanic fura- (“fore-”), warþaz (“turned”), equivalent to fore + ward. Cognate with Dutch voorwaarts (“forward”), German vorwärts (“forward”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA