athwart

Etymology

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”)

adv

1. From side to side, often in an oblique manner; across or over.
   Above, the stars appeared to move slowly athwart.
   We placed one log on the ground, and another athwart, forming a crude cross.
2. Across the path of something, so as to impede progress.
   a fleet standing athwart our course
3. (figurative) Against the anticipated or appropriate course of something; improperly, perversely, wrongly.

prep

1. From one side to the other side of; across.
   The stars moved slowly athwart the sky.
2. Across the course or path of, so as to meet; hence (figurative), to the attention of.
3. Across the course or path of, so as to oppose.
   It is the voice of human experience within us, judging and condemning all gods that stand athwart the pathway along which it feels itself to be advancing. 1902, William James, “Lectures XIV and XV: The Value of Saintliness”, in The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature[…], New York, N.Y., London: Longmans, Green, and Co.[…], →OCLC, page 330
   The new fashions were perforce addressed to the more prosperous young: the children of Europe’s white middle-class, who could afford records, concerts, shoes, clothes, make-up and modish hair-styling. But the presentation of these wares cut ostentatiously athwart conventional lines. 2005, Tony Judt, “The Spectre of Revolution”, in Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945, New York, N.Y.: The Penguin Press, page 395
4. (figurative)
   1. Across; through.
      And should the moon happen to hit its ever-shifting orbital perigee at the same time that it lies athwart from the sun, we are treated to a so-called supermoon, a full moon that can seem close enough to embrace – as much as 12 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than the average full moon. 7 September 2014, Natalie Angier, “The Moon comes around again [print version: Revisiting a moon that still has secrets to reveal: Supermoon revives interest in its violent origins and hidden face, International New York Times, 10 September 2014, page 8]”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-06-22
   2. Opposed to.
5. (nautical) Across the line of a ship's course, or across its deck.
   The damaged mainmast fell athwart the deck, destroying the ship’s boat.