What does away mean?
Away is one of English's most versatile adverbs, fundamentally indicating distance — to or at a point removed from a person, place, or thing. From this core spatial sense it has developed several extended uses: it can signal disappearance or destruction (the tide carried the boat away; the smell faded away), steady or energetic activity (she was typing away all morning), and immediacy (right away). It also combines productively with verbs to create some of the language's most familiar expressions, including run away, give away, throw away, and pass away, where it typically adds a nuance of removal, loss, or completion. Away derives from the Middle English phrase 'on way', meaning 'on one's way', which gradually fused into a single word by the late medieval period. It belongs to the same Germanic root that gives us 'way' itself, making it etymologically a word about journeys and paths. Common in both British and American English across all registers, away is essential for expressing motion, separation, and persistence in everyday speech and writing.
To or at a distance from a particular place, person, or thing.
"The hotel is only a few minutes away from the beach."
So as to disappear, be removed, or cease to exist.
"She scrubbed until the stain came away."
Continuously, steadily, or with energy; used with verbs of activity.
"He was still hammering away long after dark."
Informal but standard; especially common with verbs like work, talk, write, and eat.
At once; immediately (in the fixed expression 'right away').
"I'll get started right away."
Chiefly North American in this use; British English more often says 'straight away'.
Away began life as the phrase 'on way' — Middle English speakers squashed two words into one, and we've been saying it ever since.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of away
Away comes from the Middle English phrase 'away', itself a fusion of 'a' (a reduced form of 'on') and 'way', originally meaning 'on one's way' or 'in motion on a path'. This construction dates from the early Middle English period and was fully established as a single adverb by late medieval times. The element 'way' descends from Old English 'weg', from Proto-Germanic '*wegaz', making away cognate with the ordinary noun 'way' and with related Germanic words such as Dutch 'weg' and German 'Weg'. Its development reflects a common pattern in which prepositional phrases erode into single-function adverbs.
How away is actually used
Away is an adverb of place and manner with no comparative or superlative forms; intensification is expressed through modifiers like 'far', 'right', or 'miles'. It frequently combines with verbs to form established phrasal expressions (go away, give away, pass away) in which it often signals removal, disposal, or disappearance. In the continuous sense ('working away'), it is informal but entirely standard.
Easily confused with away
Aweigh is an adjective meaning (of an anchor) just clear of the sea bottom, whereas away is an adverb of distance or departure.