- 1向前；繼續下去。講時間時＝從此以後
Onward means moving forward, or keeping going. It can talk about a real trip: after this city, the onward flight is the next plane, still going ahead. It can talk about time: from that day onward, she never smoked — from then, and still true now. People also stretch it a little: the onward march of phones, meaning the world keeps moving that way and nobody is really stopping it. You will hear it at airports (onward ticket, onward journey) and in quieter writing about history. Though actually, British English often adds an s and says onwards, especially after a time: from Monday onwards. American English is happier with onward and no s. They are not two different meanings. It feels a little more careful than just on or ahead, but it is not stiff. Friends in chat will more often say then or after that.
From the word’s history
From on + -ward.
on 加 -ward「朝…方向」。
組成on + -ward. on is the old word for being on / going on; -ward means “toward, in that direction.” From the same old pieces as English on and the ending in -ward.
原始詞典資料5 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，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。
onwardadj/ˈɒnwəd/
- 1
Moving forward.
- There was an onward rush as the gates opened.
- 2
Advanced in a forward direction or toward an end.
- Within a while, Philoxenus came to see how onward the fruits were of his friend's labour.
onwardadv/ˈɒnwəd/
- 1
In a forward direction.
- […] yonder cloud That rises upward always higher, And onward drags a labouring breast, And topples round the dreary west, A looming bastion fringed with fire.
- Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war...
onwardverb/ˈɒnwəd/
- 1
To keep going; to progress or persevere.
- The aim of the preacher who in the best sense would be up-to-date should comprize the homiletic method which, while following in a degree the example of the fathers, tries to formulate truth in clear and philosophical statements, not essaying a muddy theology or priding itself on a vague, vacuous mysticism, communing with the great minds of the ages from Augustine down, learning something from each and following none slavishly, at every successive stage in the process of development being able distinctly to set forth th truth ascertained thus far, obeying the onwarding impulse of the true investigator without keeping things forever so "fluid" that no precipitate of dependable doctrine is ever rendered, […]
- Or of Kismet (?): whatever happens is pre-ordained, and one can "pass the buck" to something outside of oneself; to Allah, the inscrutable, I suppose, gaining one's spiritual calm from the feeling that the eternal onwardness is calmly onwarding; until little pain and little happiness become spread very very thin on the waters of time.
- 2
To pass (something) onward; to forward.
- The application has been delivered to the Nanking department of the Waichiaopu on January 19th for being kindly onwarded to Chungking.
- It is unfair to saddle Italy with persons rejected for immigration to the U.S., especially since these persons were allowed to enter Italy on the understanding that they would be immigrating to the U.S. Italy has been cooperative in every way possible in allowing persons to transit the country for onwarding processing.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。