how
/haʊ/ adverb, conjunction, interjection, noun, proper noun
Forms hows how's 'ow hoo whow howe howgh
- adverb (interrogative, degree) To what degree or extent. “How often do you practice?”
- adverb (interrogative) In what manner:
- adverb By what means. “How do you solve this puzzle? –Sorry, I can't remember how.”
- adverb With overtones of why, for what reason. “How should I know whether he likes raisins or not? Ask him!”
- adverb In what form, shape, measure, quantity, etc. “How are you fixed for money?”
- adverb With what meaning or effect. “How the stock market interprets events has real consequences.”
- adverb By what title or what name.
- adverb At what price, for what amount (of money).
- conjunction (informal) Used to state that something is in a certain way or state. “She told me how her father was a doctor.”
- interjection (US, dialectal) What?, pardon?
- noun The means by which something is accomplished. “I am not interested in the why, but in the how.”
- noun (dialectal) An artificial barrow or tumulus; in later folklore, associated with fairies.
- noun (dialectal) In northern England, a low hill.
- interjection A greeting, used in representations of Native American speech.
- noun (World War II era, joint US/RAF) radiotelephony clear-code word for the letter H.
- proper noun A surname.
- proper noun A town in Oconto County, Wisconsin, United States, named after Calvin F. How Jr.
- proper noun A hamlet in Hayton parish, City of Carlisle district, Cumbria, England (OS grid ref NY5056).
Synonyms
Etymology
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.
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.
From a Siouan language; compare Lakota háu. Alternatively from Wyandot haau.
Webster’s 1913
- adverb In what manner or way; by what means or process.
- adverb To what degree or extent, number or amount; in what proportion; by what measure or quality.
Etymology [OE. how, hou, hu, hwu, AS. h, from the same root as hwa, hwæt, who, what, pron. interrog.; akin to OS. hwow, D. hoe, cf. G. wie how, Goth. hwe wherewith, hwaiwa how. sq. root182. See Who, and cf. Why.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “how”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details