how
English · Thesaurus
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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
how¹
- /haʊ/ UK
- /huː/ Northumbria, UK
- /haʊ/ Canada, US
- /hʌʊ/ dialectal
- [həu̯] dialectal
- /hæɔ/ Australia
- /hæʊ/ New Zealand
- /hæʊ/ Ireland
Rhymes with -aʊ
Where it comes from
From Middle English how, hou, hu, hwu, from Old English hū, from Proto-West Germanic *hwō, from Proto-Germanic *hwō (“through what, how”), from the same root as hwæt (“who, what”). /hw/ > /h/ due to wh-cluster reduction in Old English; compare who, which underwent this change later, and thus is spelt wh (Middle English spelling of /hw/) but pronounced /h/ (it previously had a different vowel, hence avoided the spelling and sound change in Old English). Vowel change per Great Vowel Shift.
Akin to Scots hoo, foo (“how”), North Frisian ho, hü, hur (“how”), Saterland Frisian wo (“how”), West Frisian hoe (“how”), Dutch hoe (“how”), Low German ho, wo, wu (“how”), German wie (“how”), Swedish hur (“how”). See who and compare why.
adverb 'ow · hoo · whow
- To what degree or extent. How often do you practice?
- In what manner Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too.[…]But as a foundation for analysis it is highly subjective: it rests on difficult decisions about what counts
-
By what means.
How do you solve this puzzle? –Sorry, I can't remember how.
Similar: wherewithal, wherein
- With overtones of why, for what reason. How should I know whether he likes raisins or not? Ask him!
- In what form, shape, measure, quantity, etc. How are you fixed for money?
- With what meaning or effect. How the stock market interprets events has real consequences.
- By what title or what name. "How art thou called? Thy name make known; Thy father's name and family,—tell me thy father's and thine own."
- At what price, for what amount (of money). Shal. How a score of ewes now? Sil. Thereafter as they be: a score of good ewes may be worth ten pounds.
- In what state or condition. How are you?
- In the manner in which. I said it exactly how he said it.
- In any manner in which; in whatever way; however. People should be free to live how they want.
- In which. The way how you walk is funny.
- Used as a modifier to indicate surprise, delight, or other strong feelings in an exclamation. How very interesting!
conjunction 'ow · hoo · whow
- Used to state that something is in a certain way or state. She told me how her father was a doctor.
interjection 'ow · hoo · whow
- What?, pardon?
noun hows · how's · 'ow · hoo · whow
- The means by which something is accomplished. I am not interested in the why, but in the how.
how²
- /haʊ/ UK
- /huː/ Northumbria, UK
- /haʊ/ Canada, US
- /hʌʊ/ dialectal
- [həu̯] dialectal
- /hæɔ/ Australia
- /hæʊ/ New Zealand
- /hæʊ/ Ireland
Rhymes with -aʊ
Where it comes from
From Middle English howe, hough, hogh, partly from Old English hōh (“promontory”), and partly from Old Norse haugr (“a how, mound”). Compare Old French höe (“hillock, hill”), from the same Germanic source.
noun hows · howe · 'ow · hoo · whow
- An artificial barrow or tumulus; in later folklore, associated with fairies. Fianlly, as regards the places in which these rites and mysteries may have been held, certain writers believe them to have been the "Fairy Hills" or "howes" in various parts of Scotland.
- In northern England, a low hill.
how³
- /haʊ/ UK
- /huː/ Northumbria, UK
- /haʊ/ Canada, US
- /hʌʊ/ dialectal
- [həu̯] dialectal
- /hæɔ/ Australia
- /hæʊ/ New Zealand
- /hæʊ/ Ireland
Rhymes with -aʊ
Where it comes from
From a Siouan language; compare Lakota háu. Alternatively from Wyandot haau.
interjection howgh · 'ow · hoo · whow
- A greeting, used in representations of Native American speech.
How⁴
noun
-
radiotelephony clear-code word for the letter H.
Similar: Hotel
proper noun Hows
- A surname.
- A town in Oconto County, Wisconsin, United States, named after Calvin F. How Jr.
- A hamlet in Hayton parish, City of Carlisle district, Cumbria, England (OS grid ref NY5056).
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: however, often, then, could, very, ways, know, manner, knowhow, functioning, come, approaches, comment, operation, why, learn
Translations
Every language
adv in what manner — see also how so
| Español | cómo, de qué manera/modo/forma |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 어떻게 eotteoke, 어찌 eojji |
| 日本語 | どのように dono yō ni, どうやって dōyatte, どう dō |
| 中文 | 怎麼樣 /怎么样 zěnmeyàng, 怎麼 /怎么 zěnme, 怎樣 /怎样 zěnyàng, 如何 rúhé, 咋 zǎ |
| हिन्दी | कैसे kaise, कैसा kaisā |
| Kiswahili | namna, jinsi, -je |
| Português | como |
| Français | comment |
| Deutsch | wie |
| Italiano | come |
| Ελληνικά | πώς pós |
| Română | cum |
| Русский | как kak, каки́м о́бразом kakím óbrazom |
| Tiếng Việt | như thế nào, làm sao, sao |
| العربية | كَيْف kayf |
| עברית | אֵיך ekh, כֵּיצַד keytsád |
adv to what degree — see also to the point
| Español | “cómo de”/“qué tan”/cuán, cada cuánto (tiempo), lo |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 얼마나 eolmana |
| 日本語 | どのように dono yō ni, どうやって dōyatte, どう dō, どんなに donna ni, 争で ika de |
| 中文 | 多 duō, duó |
| हिन्दी | कैसे kaise |
| Português | quanto, o quanto |
| Français | comment |
| Deutsch | wie |
| Italiano | quanto |
| Ελληνικά | πόσο póso |
| Română | cât |
| Русский | как kak, наско́лько naskólʹko |
| Tiếng Việt | thế nào, làm sao, sao |
| العربية | كَيْفَ kayfa |
| עברית | כַּמָּה káma |
adv in what state — see also how are you, how's it going
| Español | “cómo de”/“qué tan”/cuán |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | どう dō |
| 中文 | 怎麼樣 /怎么样 zěnmeyàng, 怎麼 /怎么 zěnme, 怎樣 /怎样 zěnyàng, 如何 rúhé |
| Português | como |
| Français | comment |
| Deutsch | wie |
| Italiano | come |
| Ελληνικά | πώς pós |
| Русский | как kak |
| العربية | كَيْفَ kayfa |
| עברית | אֵיך ekh |
adv used as a modifier to indicate surprise, delight, or other strong feelings — see also what, so
| Español | (pero) cuán, (pero) cómo |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 何て 何と nante |
| 中文 | 多 duō, 多麼 /多么 duōme, duóme, 何其 héqí, 好不 hǎobù |
| हिन्दी | क्या kyā |
| Português | que, quão |
| Français | comme, que |
| Deutsch | wie |
| Italiano | che |
| Ελληνικά | πολύ polý, πόσο póso, τι ti |
| Română | ce, cât de |
| Русский | как kak |
| Tiếng Việt | sao, làm sao |
| العربية | كَمْ kam, يَا لَ yā la, مَا mā |
| עברית | כמה káma |
intj the greeting
| Italiano | augh |
|---|
Talk about this word "how." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/how. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. how. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/how "how." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/how.Cite this
@misc{how_2026,
title = {how},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/how},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
