different between toward vs approach

English

Etymology

From Middle English toward, from Old English t?weard, equivalent to to +? -ward

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /t??w??d/
• (General American) IPA^(key): (historical) /t??d/; (more recent) /?tw??d/, /t??w??d/
• (rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): (historical) /to(?)?d/; (more recent) /?two(?)?d/, /t??w??d/
• (non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): (historical) /to?d/; (more recent) /?two?d/, /t??w??d/
• (General New Zealand) IPA^(key): /t??wo?d/
• Rhymes: -??(?)d
• Hyphenation: to?ward

Preposition

toward (chiefly US)

1. In the direction of.

   • He set his face toward the wilderness.

   • Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear.

   • 2019, VOA Learning English (public domain)

     China has claimed that South Korea’s dust flies toward Shanghai.

2. In relation to (someone or something).

   • So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave

3. For the purpose of attaining (an aim).

4. Located close to; near (a time or place).
   • January 8, 1723, Jonathan Swift, letter to John Gay

     I am toward nine years older since I left you.

Usage notes

• Although some have tried to discern a semantic distinction between the words toward and towards, the only difference in practice is dialectal. Toward is more common in American English and towards is more common in British English, though each form may be found in both varieties.

Synonyms

• towards

Antonyms

• froward, fromward

Translations

Adjective

toward (not comparable)

1. Yielding, pliant; docile; ready or apt to learn; not froward.
2. (obsolete) Future; to-come.
3. (dated) Approaching, coming near; impending; present, at hand.
4. (obsolete or archaic) Promising, likely.

Synonyms

• (future): coming; see also Thesaurus:future
• (approaching): imminent, in the offing, proximate; see also Thesaurus:impending

Anagrams

• to-draw, todraw

Middle English

Alternative forms

• towarde, towar, towart, touard, touarde, touwar, touward, touwarde, towerd, towert, taward, tawarde, tawart, twoward, tort, toweard, towearde, towerd, towarð, towweard, touwward

Etymology

From Old English t?weard, t?wærd; equivalent to to +? -ward.

Preposition

toward

1. In the direction of; toward.

2. Into the presence of.
3. In proximity to; near, by.
4. In an exchange or communication with; to.
   • c. 1190 - 1215, Layamon, La?amon's Brut

     Þe while þe he spac touward Goden.

5. Having a wont or tendency towards.
6. Similar to.
7. Subject to; under the control of.
8. Useful for; prepared for.

Derived terms

• as toward

Descendants

• English: toward

Adjective

toward

1. Future, forthcoming; to come.
2. Near at hand; imminent, nigh.
3. Moving forth.
4. of goodwill, benevolent; well-tempered, gentle.

Related terms

• towardnesse

Descendants

• English: toward

Adverb

toward

1. In a given direction, typically toward something specific.
2. Nearly, almost.

Derived terms

• toward and froward

References

• “toward, prep.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 15 April 2018.
• “toward, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 15 April 2018.
• “toward, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 15 April 2018.

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??p???t??/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /??p?o?t??/
• Rhymes: -??t?
• Hyphenation: ap?proach

Etymology 1

From Middle English approchen, aprochen (“to come or go near, approach; to adjoin, be close by; to enter (someone’s) presence; to be or become involved; to reach (a certain state); to arrive; to befall, happen to; to become similar to, resemble; to be a match for (someone)”) [and other forms], borrowed from Old French approchier, aprochier (“to approach”) (modern French approcher), from Late Latin appropi?re, adpropi?re, respectively the present active infinitives of appropi? and adpropi? (“to approach, come near to”), from Latin ad- (prefix meaning ‘to’) + propi? (“to draw near”) (from prope (“near, nearby”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pro- (a variant of *per- (“before, in front; first”)) + *-k?e (“suffix forming distributives from interrogatives”)).

Verb

approach (third-person singular simple present approaches, present participle approaching, simple past and past participle approached)

1. (intransitive) To come or go near, in place or time; to advance nearer; to draw nigh.
2. (intransitive, golf, tennis) To play an approach shot.
3. (transitive, intransitive, figuratively) Used intransitively, followed by to: to draw near (to someone or something); to make advances; to approximate or become almost equal.
4. (transitive, rarely intransitive) Of an immovable object or a number of such objects: to be positioned as to (notionally) appear to be moving towards (a place).
5. (transitive, also figuratively) To come near to (someone or something) in place, time, character, or value; to draw nearer to.
6. (transitive) To bring (something) near something else; to cause (something) to draw near.
7. (transitive) To attempt to make (a policy) or solve (a problem).
8. (transitive) To bring up or propose to (someone) an idea, question, request, etc.
9. (transitive, archaic, euphemistic) To have sexual intercourse with (someone).

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:copulate
10. (transitive, military) To take approaches to (a place); to move towards (a place) by using covered roads, trenches, or other works.

Usage notes

Regarding the use of sense 5 (“to come near to (someone or something) in place, time, character, or value”) in discussing convergence in mathematical analysis, modern rigorous formulations avoid using the words approach and converge. However, the terms are used informally when rigour is not required.

Conjugation

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English approche (“approach, arrival”), from approchen, aprochen (“to come or go near, approach; to adjoin, be close by; to enter (someone’s) presence; to be or become involved; to reach (a certain state); to arrive; to befall, happen to; to become similar to, resemble; to be a match for (someone)”); see etymology 1.

Noun

approach (plural approaches)

1. (also figuratively) An act of drawing near in place or time; an advancing or coming near.
2. An act of coming near in character or value; an approximation.
3. (also figuratively) An avenue, passage, or way by which a building or place can be approached; an access.
   1. (climbing) A path taken to reach the climbing area, for example, from a car park, road, etc.
4. (figuratively) A manner of making (a policy) or solving (a problem, etc.).
5. (archaic) An opportunity of drawing near; access.
6. (aviation, also attributively) The way an aircraft comes in to land at an airport.
7. (bowling) The area before the lane in which a bowler may stand or run up before bowling the ball.
8. (golf, tennis) Short for approach shot.

Hyponyms

(aviation):

• instrument approach
• nonprecision approach
• precision approach
• visual approach

Derived terms

• approach shoe

Translations

References

Further reading

• approach (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• approach in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Portuguese

Noun

approach m (plural approaches)

1. approach (a manner in which a problem is solved or policy is made)

   Synonym: abordagem