Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

-ward \-ward\ (w[~e]rd), -wards \-wards\ (w[~e]rdz). [AS.
   -weard, -weardes; akin to OS. & OFries. -ward. OHG. -wert, G.
   -w["a]rts, Icel. -ver[eth]r, Goth. -va['i]r[thorn]s, L.
   vertere to turn, versus toward, and E. worth to become.
   [root]143. See {Worth}. v. i., and cf. {Verse}. Adverbs
   ending in -wards (AS. -weardes) and some other adverbs, such
   as besides, betimes, since (OE. sithens). etc., were
   originally genitive forms used adverbially.]
   Suffixes denoting course or direction to; motion or tendency
   toward; as in backward, or backwards; toward, or towards,
   etc.