From a higher to a lower place, condition, or state.In a course or direction from a head, origin, source, or remoter point in space or in time: as, water flows downward toward the sea; to trace successive generations downward from the earliest records.In the lower parts; as regards the lower parts or extremities.Moving or tending from a higher to a lower place, condition, or state; taking a descending direction, literally or figuratively: as, the downward course of a mountain path, or of a drunkard.Descending from a head, origin, or source: as, the downward course of a river; a downward tracing of records.