Athwart

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /əˈθwɔːt/
• Rhymes: -ɔːt

Origin

From a- + thwart.

Full definition of athwart

Adverb

1. (archaic) From side to side; across.Above, the stars appeared to move slowly athwart.We placed one log on the ground, and another athwart, forming a crude cross.
2. (archaic) Across the path (of something).a fleet standing athwart our course

Preposition

1. (archaic) From one side to the other side of.The stars moved slowly athwart the sky.
• 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.iii:Knit with a golden bauldricke, which forelay
  Athwart her snowy brest, and did diuide
  Her daintie paps ...
• TennysonAt eve the beetle boometh
  Athwart the thicket lone.
2. (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.
3. (archaic) Across the path or course of; opposing.
• 1902, William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, Folio Society 2008, p. 283: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.

Derived terms

• athwartships