Backwards is ... Meaning of the word

In literature, especially in the works of the classics, there is often an adverb "backwards." This is a fairly common term, and many readers, without even knowing its exact definition, can easily guess from the context that it is a fall.

This is true, but this word has a fully established meaning. It's not just that someone has lost his balance, but that he fell in a very specific way - on his back.

What does the word "backward" mean?

To find out its meaning, you need to look in the dictionary. Russian dictionaries explain that to fall backwards is to appear on the ground face up. It can be not only an unpleasant embarrassment, but also a laid-back attitude. For example, when the hero of the work rests, lying on his back.

But backwards is always such a situation. About a pose on the side, on the stomach or any other way to say this is not accepted, this is a mistake.

Origin

"Backhand" is a word with a rather ancient history. Etymology dates back to the Old Slavonic language. Specialists-philologists call this term proper Russian, in other Slavic languages similar words are also sometimes encountered, but they sound and are written differently.

The etymological dictionary of Sitnikov suggests that the word arose as a result of the transformation of the ancient adverb "plainly", which means "upward face".

The Serbo-Croatian word "nakom" - "for", "after" also influenced.

On his back and face

And how, then, to talk about those who for some reason found themselves lying on their stomachs? "Backhand" is an antonym of the word "face", which means "face down". These words, as well as "prostrate" (the jaws of the knees) and "the underside" (for example, fabrics) are single-root.

Writing

The word "backwards" is an adverb and answers the questions "how?", "How?". It is not distinguished in the sentence by any special punctuation marks, except for punctuation according to the rules of the Russian language. The word is always written together.