What does homewards mean?
Homewards is an English adverb meaning toward or in the direction of one's home. It commonly accompanies words describing movement, such as travel, walk, head, turn, journey, and make one's way, although it can also indicate the general orientation of an object or group. For example, a ship might be described as sailing homewards, while a person might say that they are finally making their way homewards after a difficult journey. The word belongs to the familiar English family of directional terms ending in -wards, including towards, upwards, downwards, inwards, and outwards. Unlike homeward, its more traditional variant homewards is especially associated with British usage and can sound somewhat literary or regional. In American English, homeward is generally the preferred form, although homewards remains standard and readily understood. Although its final -s may suggest a plural to some learners, homewards is not plural; the suffix historically marks direction rather than number.
adverbToward or in the direction of one's home or place of residence.
- In or toward the direction of one's home or place of residence.
"After the long journey, the travelers continued homewards through the quiet streets."
"The children waved goodbye and rode homewards on the bus."
"The storm was approaching, so the fishing boat turned homewards."
Homewards may end in -s, but it is not a plural: the -wards element comes from a directional suffix meaning “in the direction of.”
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does homewards come from?
The base word home derives from Old English hām, meaning a dwelling or the place where someone lives. The directional ending -wards was ultimately based on Old English -weard, meaning “toward” or “in the direction of,” and became an English suffix for expressing direction. Homewards combines these elements to mean “toward home”; closely related modern forms include homeward, homesick, and homecoming.
Related word forms
How homewards is actually used
Homewards is especially common in British, Irish, and Scottish English and has a somewhat traditional or literary tone in some contexts. American English usually prefers homeward, though homewards is understood and occasionally used.
Easily confused with homewards
Homeward is a variant of homewards and has the same meaning, but it is more common in American English, while homewards is especially associated with British usage.