What does eastwards mean?
"Eastwards" is a directional adverb meaning toward the east, describing movement or orientation in that compass direction. It belongs to a family of British English adverbs built with the suffix -wards, alongside northwards, southwards, westwards, and homewards, and is largely interchangeable with its shorter sibling "eastward," which American English favors. Typical contexts are travel, weather reporting, geography, and narrative description: birds migrate eastwards, storms track eastwards, and travelers walk or drive eastwards toward their destination. Compared with the simple word "east," "eastwards" emphasizes motion rather than location, lending prose a slightly formal or literary flavor. For writers aiming at an international audience, choosing between "eastwards" and "eastward" is primarily a matter of regional convention rather than meaning, since both convey precisely the same sense of eastward movement.
adverbToward the east; in an eastward direction.
- In the direction of the east.
"The migrating geese flew eastwards across the valley at dawn."
"We walked eastwards along the coast path until the lighthouse came into view."
"The storm is expected to move eastwards overnight, reaching the capital by morning."
That trailing -s is a fossil of Old English adverb-making: it's the same ending that gives us "afterwards," "forwards," and "homewards" — a tiny grammatical relic still pointing the way east.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does eastwards come from?
"Eastwards" derives from the Old English word "ēast," meaning east, combined with the adverbial suffix "-weard(s)," which indicates direction or orientation and survives in modern words such as "afterwards," "forward," and "backward." This -wards ending has been productive in English for over a millennium in forming directional adverbs. Its closest relatives are the parallel forms northwards, southwards, westwards, and the American-preferred "eastward," all built on the same Germanic pattern.
How eastwards is actually used
"Eastwards" is standard in British English, where the adverbial -s suffix is common in direction words (northwards, southwards, homewards). American English strongly prefers "eastward." The word carries a slightly literary or descriptive tone compared with plain "east."
Easily confused with eastwards
"Eastward" is the same directional word without the final -s, and is the form preferred in American English, while "eastwards" with -s is the usual British variant.