English Explanatory Dictionary

how

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adv
  1. To what degree or extent.
  2. In what manner
  3. In what manner:
  4. By what means.
  5. With overtones of why, for what reason.
  6. In what form, shape, measure, quantity, etc.
  7. With what meaning or effect.
  8. By what title or what name.
  9. At what price, for what amount (of money).
  10. In what state or condition.
  11. In the manner in which.
  12. In any manner in which; in whatever way; however.
conj
  1. That, the fact that.
intj
  1. What?, pardon?
noun
  1. The means by which something is accomplished.
noun
  1. An artificial barrow or tumulus; in later folklore, associated with fairies.
  2. In northern England, a low hill.
intj
  1. A greeting, used in representations of Native American speech.
noun
  1. radiotelephony clear-code word for the letter H.
name
  1. A surname.
  2. A town in Oconto County, Wisconsin, United States, named after Calvin F. How Jr.
  3. A hamlet in Hayton parish, City of Carlisle district, Cumbria, England (OS grid ref NY5056).

Pronunciation

hou /haʊ/ en-uk-how.ogg /huː/ en-us-how.ogg /hʌʊ/ [həu̯] /hæɔ/ /hæʊ/ En-How.oga

Word forms

how 'ow hoo hows how's howe howgh

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kʷ- Proto-Indo-European *kʷís Proto-Germanic *hwō Old English hū Middle English how English how 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.

Synonyms

wherewithal wherein Hotel

Related words

Howe

Derived words

and how anyhow any old how ask how high when someone says jump a straw shows how the wind blows boo how doy die how one lived die just how one lived don't teach your grandmother how to milk ducks don't try to teach grandma how to suck eggs everyhow forhow get it how one gets it get it how one lives get it how one lives it how about how about no how about that how about them apples how are things how are you how are you diddling how are you doing how are you getting along how are you going how are you keeping how bist how came you so how can you sleep at night howcatchem how come how dare you how did it go how do how do I get to how do I get to the airport how do I get to the bus station how do I get to the train station how do ye do how do you do how do you like how do you like that how do you like them apples how do you mean how do you pronounce this word how do you say … in English how do you sleep at night how do you spell this word how-d'ye-do how embarrassment how far how farest thou how goes it how goes the battle how goes the enemy how goes the war how long how long is a piece of string how many how many languages do you speak

Translations

Afrikaans: hoe Dupaningan Agta: panyan Albanian: si Southern Altai: кандый Antillean Creole: kijan Antillean Creole: kimannyè Antillean Creole: okonsa Antillean Creole: ankijan Arabic: كَيْف Arabic: ازاي Arabic: كيف Arabic: كيفاش Arabic: شلون Iraqi Arabic: شلون Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܕܵܐܟ݂ܝܼ Armenian: ինչպես Aromanian: cum Assamese: কেনেকৈ Asturian: cómo Azerbaijani: necə Belarusian: як Bengali: কিভাবে Bengali: কীভাবে Central Bikol: pano Bulgarian: ко́лко Bulgarian: как Burmese: ဘယ် Burmese: ဘယ်လို Catalan: com Cheyenne: tónėše- Chichewa: bwanji Chickasaw: kaniht Chinese Cantonese: 怎麼樣 /怎么样 Chinese Cantonese: 怎麼 /怎么 Chinese Cantonese: 怎樣 /怎样 Chinese Cantonese: 點樣 /点样 Chinese Cantonese: 點 /点 Chinese Cantonese: 如何 Chinese: за Chinese: заму Chinese: 怎樣 /怎样 Chinese: 怎仔樣 /怎仔样 Chinese: 按怎 Chinese: 按怎樣 /按怎样 Chinese: 如何 Eastern Min Chinese: 將樣 /将样 Hakka Chinese: 仰般 Hakka Chinese: 如何 Chinese Mandarin: 怎麼樣 /怎么样 Chinese Mandarin: 怎麼 /怎么 Chinese Mandarin: 怎樣 /怎样 Chinese Mandarin: 如何 Chinese Mandarin: 咋 Wu Chinese: 哪能 West Circassian: сыдэу Maore Comorian: jeje Ngazidja Comorian: hali dje Crimean Tatar: nasıl Crimean Tatar: neday Crimean Tatar: qadiy Czech: jak Danish: hvordan Danish: hvorledes Dutch: hoe Egyptian: ḥr zj jšst Esperanto: kiel Estonian: kuidas Finnish: miten Finnish: kuinka Finnish: millä tavalla Finnish: millä tavoin French: comment
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