athwart

Meaning

Adv

1. From side to side, often in an oblique manner; across or over.
2. Across the path of something, so as to impede progress.
3. (figuratively) Against the anticipated or appropriate course of something; improperly, perversely, wrongly.

Prep

1. From one side to the other side of; across.
2. Across the course or path of, so as to meet; hence (figuratively), to the attention of.
3. Across the course or path of, so as to oppose.
4. (figuratively) Across; through.
5. (figuratively) Opposed to.
6. Across the line of a ship's course, or across its deck.

Synonyms

across

obliquely

aslant

crosswise

transverse

transversely

in defiance of

slantwise

sloping

transversal

abeam

not smooth

askant

block

contrary to

deviously

edgeways

oblique

obstruct

Translations

quer

σταυρωτά

oblicuamente

tersine

karşı

aykırı

dwars over

a través de

transversal

εγκάρσιος

quer laufend

εγκαρσίως

πλάγια

بِعَرْض

querlaufend

Pronounced as (IPA)

/əˈθwɔːt/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: athwert

Cognate with Scots: athort

In summary

From Late Middle English athwert, athirt, from a- (prefix meaning ‘in the direction of, toward’) + thwert (“crosswise; (cooking) across the grain”, adverb). Thwert is derived from thwert (“crosswise, transverse; counter, opposing; contrary, obstinate, stubborn”, adjective), borrowed from Old Norse þvert (“across, athwart”), originally the neuter form of þverr (“across, transverse”), from Proto-Germanic *þwerhaz (“cross; adverse”) (altered or influenced by Proto-Germanic *þweraną (“to stir; to swirl; to turn”)), from Proto-Germanic *þerh-, probably from Proto-Indo-European *terkʷ- (“to spin; to turn”). The English word is analysable as a- (prefix meaning ‘in the direction of, toward’) + thwart (“placed or situated across something else”).
Cognates
* Scots athort (“athwart”)