空間上往下
真實空間裡的朝下箭頭——核心畫面本身。
pointing down · adjective · C1
Moving or pointing towards a lower position or towards the ground.
向下的
核心畫面
An arrow whose point is turned towards the ground. -ward doesn't say where something is — it says which way it faces and travels: down.
一支箭頭朝著地面。-ward 這個字尾管的不是「在哪裡」，而是「朝哪個方向」——所以 downward 說的是「往下…更多收起
一支箭頭朝著地面。-ward 這個字尾管的不是「在哪裡」，而是「朝哪個方向」——所以 downward 說的是「往下的那個方向」。畫面裡的東西不一定已經到底了，重點是它的頭指著下面、正在往下走。這個「朝下的箭頭」之後可以蓋在任何一種可以畫成上下的東西上。From the word’s history
down + -ward, where -ward (Old English -weard) marks direction faced or moved towards — so downward literally means 'facing/moving towards down'.
這個字是 down 加上字尾 -ward 組成的。-ward 來自古英文 -weard，意思是「朝著…的方向」——同一個零件也在 forward、backward、toward 裡。所以 downward 字面上就是「朝下的方向」，這也解釋了為什麼它天生就帶著「移動中」的味道，而不是「在下面」（那是 below 的工作）。
Wiktionary, entry "downward": from down + -ward, from Old English -weard, from Proto-Germanic *wardaz
Two branches
數字與情況往下
把同一支箭頭放到圖表上：數量和處境也被想像成有高低。
declining trend · adjective · C1
Moving to a lower level, such as in number, price, or how well things are going.
下滑的
原始詞典資料5 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
downwardadv/ˈdaʊnwɚd/
- 1
Toward a lower level, whether in physical space, in a hierarchy, or in amount or value.
- His position in society moved ever downward.
- The natural disasters put downward pressure on the creditworthiness of the nation’s insurance groups.
- 2
At a lower level.
- Dagon his Name, Sea Monster, upward Man / And downward Fish […]
- 3
Southward.
- If we turn to the New World, we find that among the American Indians, from the Eskimo of Alaska downward to Brazil and still farther south, homosexual customs have been very frequently observed.
downwardadj/ˈdaʊnwɚd/
- 1
Moving, sloping or oriented down.
- He spoke with a downward glance.
- But this foul, grim, and urchin-snouted boar, Whose downward eye still looketh for a grave, Ne’er saw the beauteous livery that he wore;
- 2
Located at a lower level.
- In her chast Current oft the Goddess laves, And with Celestial Tears augments the Waves. Oft in her Glass the musing Shepherd spies The headlong Mountains and the downward Skies, The watry Landskip of the pendant Woods, And absent Trees that tremble in the Floods;
- 1793, Thomas Taylor (translator), The Phædo in The Cratylus, Phædo, Parmenides and Timæus of Plato, London: Benjamin and John White, p. 235, […] often revolving itself under the earth, [the river] flows into the more downward parts of Tartarus.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。