Emily Dickinson Lexicon

DOWN'WARD, adv. [Sax. duneweard. See Ward.]

1. From a higher place to a lower; in a descending course, whether directly toward the center of the earth, or not; as, to tend downward; to move or roll downward; to look downward; to take root downward.
2. In a course or direction from a head, spring, origin or source. Water flows downward toward the sea; we sailed downward on the stream.
3. In a course of lineal descent from an ancestor, considered as a head; as, to trace successive generations downward from Adam or Abraham.
4. In the course of falling or descending from elevation or distinction.