skyward

English

Alternative forms

• skywards

Etymology

Etymology tree

English sky

Proto-Indo-European *wert-der.

Proto-Germanic *wardaz

Old English -weard

English -ward

English skyward

From sky + -ward.

Adverb

skyward (not comparable)

1. At or toward the sky.

   The rocket shot skyward and exploded in a burst of glittering stars.

   • 1961, Norma Lorre Goodrich, “Beowulf”, in The Medieval Myths, New York: The New American Library, page 40:

     No Jute is left to wield a sword to save this hoard. No one is left to swing the battle-ax skyward.

   • 2008 January–February, Matt Bean, “Your cultural calendar: 7 things to look forward to this year”, in Men's Health, volume 23, number 1, →ISSN, page 135:

     If there is a heaven up there, Carl Sagan will be in his element on November 30, when Venus, Jupiter, and the moon align in a facelike formation. Gaze skyward to appreciate this rare triple feature of the brightest planets with a wry grin from the moon.

   • 2009 July 19, Lizette Alvarez, “Whee! Also, There’s a Net”, in The New York Times‎^[1], archived from the original on 26 November 2022:

     Pass the chalk. Dr. Levine was there with a friend and fellow psychiatrist (detect a pattern?), Alexa Albert, Coco’s mother, who squinted up into the sun as her daughter effortlessly sailed skyward. Dr. Albert is an acrophobe.

Adjective

skyward (not comparable)

1. Pointing or facing at or moving toward the sky.

Derived terms

• skywardly

Translations

toward the sky

• Arabic: سَمَاوِيٌّ (samāwiyyun)
• Esperanto: ĉiela
• Finnish: taivaallinen (fi)
• French: céleste (fr)
• Greek: ουράνιος (el) (ouránios)

  Ancient Greek: οὐράνιος (ouránios)

• Portuguese: celeste (pt)
• Russian: ввысь (ru) (vvysʹ)