abackwardadv.
/əˈbakwəd/, U.S. /əˈbækwərd/ Now rare (archaic and poetic in later use).
= backward adv.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > backward movement > [adverb]
abackOE
ruglingc1225
abackwardc1275
backwarda1300
hindwarda1300
arsewardly1530
arseward1553
rearward1604
retrogradea1620
aversively?1624
arsewards1648
retrogradely1658
regressively1755
backlings1786
tailwise1825
rearwards1835
bass-ackwardsa1865
arseling1887
bass-ackward1902
ass-backwards1934
backasswards1951
backassward1961
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 10023 Arður..t[eh] hine a-bac-ward in enne uald brade.
a1325 (c1280) Southern Passion (Pepys 2344) (1927) l. 1810 (MED) Þe shrewes..þat among vs her beoþ Þat euere goþ a-bakward, and þe leng þe worse y-þeoþ.
a1333 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 14th Cent. (1924) 20 (MED) Heyl, leuedy, se-stoerre bryht..Þat turnst abakward eues nome [i.e. ave for Eva].
?c1400 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (BL Add. 10340) (1868) iii. met. xii. l. 3068 Orpheus loked[e] abakwarde on Erudice his wijf.
a1450 ( tr. Vegetius De Re Militari (Douce) f. 102v (MED) Þe whiche beem may, wiþ drawyng of men wiþ ynne, be drawe abakward [v.r. bakward] and let fle..forward to þe walle.
a1500 Partenay (Trin. Cambr.) l. 5888 Abakwarde smote he with hys swerde.
1875 W. Morris tr. Virgil Æneids v. 428 The while their lofty heads they draw abackward from the blow.
1887 W. Morris tr. Homer Odyssey II. xiii. 234 They cast them abackward and tossed up the brine with the oar.
1907 H. B. Alexander Mid Earth Life 38 'Tis the passion of the Deep Whose aching waters..abackward sweep.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2011; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adv.c1275