. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
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”), Saterland Frisian wo (“how”), West Frisian hoe (“how”), Low German ho, wo, wu (“how”), Dutch hoe (“how”), German wie (“how”), Swedish hur (“how”). See who and compare why.
Adverb
how (not comparable)
- (interrogative) To what degree or extent.
How often do you practice?
- The gauge indicated how hot the oven was.
1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 46:No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or otherwise his man would be there with a message to say that his master would shortly join me if I would kindly wait.
2013, Diane Sullivan Everstine, Louis Everstine, Strategic Interventions for People in Crisis, Trauma, and Disaster: Revised Edition, Routledge, →ISBN:How damaged is her self-esteem?
- (interrogative) In what manner:
2013 August 3, “Boundary problems”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847: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 as a territory, what counts as output and how to value it. Indeed, economists are still tweaking it.
- By what means.
How do you solve this puzzle?
How else can we get this finished?
- She showed him how to do it.
- 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.
1831, Nicolas Wanostrocht, A Grammar of the French Language: With Practical Exercises, page 372:How do you sell your brandy? We sell it by the gallon, and not by the bottle.
2005, Tim Stafford, Knowing the Face of God, Revised Edition: Deepening Your Personal Relationship with God, Wipf and Stock Publishers, →ISBN, page 191:How does God appear in these religions? Hinduism has a thousand faces for God, some likable, some horrible. You can pick and choose your preferred image. Buddhism does not even have an image of God, but concentrates on man.
- With what meaning or effect.
- How the stock market interprets events has real consequences.
1906, Gibbons Stamp Weekly, page 110:A heap of stamps? Yes. Stamps they were indeed, hundreds of penny Queen's Heads neatly mounted on the original sheets. "Good God!" exclaimed Mr. Erskine as he turned to Mr. Sackville, "how am I to take this, sir?" said he severely. "Where are the real stamps? Were they ever inside, ever in your possession at all? If it is a joke, it is a very poor one."
- By what title or what name.
1907, Edward Byles Cowell, The Jātaka: Or, Stories of the Buddha's Former Births, page 44:"How art thou called? Thy name make known; Thy father's name and family,—tell me thy father's and thine own."
2015, Edmond H. Weiss, The Elements of International English Style: A Guide to Writing Correspondence, Reports, Technical Documents, and Internet Pages for a Global Audience, Routledge, →ISBN, page 111:Salutation—How does one address the recipient; what titles, greetings, and honorifics are preferred; how does one manage the problem of unknown gender; […]
- At what price, for what amount (of money).
c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :Shal. How a score of ewes now?
Sil. Thereafter as they be: a score of good ewes may be worth ten pounds.
- (interrogative) In what state or condition.
How are you?
How was your vacation?
- (exclamative) Used as a modifier to indicate surprise, delight, or other strong feelings in an exclamation.
How very interesting!
How wonderful it was to receive your invitation.
2021 July 7, Phil McNulty, “England 2-1 Denmark”, in BBC Sport:How England had to fight for victory against this steely Denmark with an inspired keeper in Kasper Schmeichel, especially after conceding their first goal of the tournament to Mikkel Damsgaard's stunning free-kick after 30 minutes.
Usage notes
- See usage notes on else (adverb).
- How good is it? means "To what extent is it good?", whereas How is it good? means "In what manner is it good?". Likewise, I know how good it is means "I know the extent to which it is good", whereas I know how it is good means "I know the manner in which it is good".
Derived terms
Translations
to what degree
- Afrikaans: hoe (af)
- Albanian: sa (sq), si
- Arabic: كَيْفَ (kayfa)
- Egyptian Arabic: ازاي (ezzāy)
- Hijazi Arabic: كيف (kēf)
- Iraqi Arabic: شلون (šlōn)
- Moroccan Arabic: كيفاش (kifāš), كيف (kīf)
- North Levantine Arabic: كيف (kīf), شلون (šlōn) (Syria)
- South Levantine Arabic: كيف (kīf)
- Armenian: որքան (hy) (orkʻan), ինչպէս (inčʻpēs)
- Assamese: কিমান (kiman)
- Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܕܵܐܟ݂ܝܼ (daḳī)
- Asturian: cómo (ast)
- Azerbaijani: necə (az)
- Bashkir: ҡайһылай (qayhılay)
- Belarusian: як (be) (jak)
- Bengali: কত (bn) (kot)
- Bikol Central: gurano (bcl)
- Bulgarian: ко́лко (bg) (kólko), как (bg) (kak)
- Catalan: com (ca)
- Cherokee: ᎫᏙᎢ (gudoi)
- Chickasaw: kati̱hsht
- Chinese:
- Cantonese: 幾/几 (gei2)
- Hakka: 幾/几 (kí)
- Hokkien: 偌 (zh-min-nan) (gōa, jōa, lōa)
- Mandarin: 多 (zh) (duō, duó)
- Czech: jak (cs)
- Danish: hvor (da)
- Dutch: hoe (nl)
- Esperanto: kiom (eo)
- Estonian: kui (et)
- Finnish: kuinka (fi)
- French: comment (fr)
- Friulian: cemût
- Georgian: როგორ (rogor)
- German: wie (de)
- Gothic: 𐍈𐌰𐌹𐍅𐌰 (ƕaiwa), 𐍈𐌴 (ƕē)
- Greek: πόσο (el) (póso)
- Hebrew: כַּמָּה (he) (káma)
- Hindi: कैसे (hi) (kaise)
- Hungarian: milyen (hu), mennyire (hu)
- Icelandic: hve (is), hversu (is)
- Indonesian: seberapa (id)
- Iquito: jaátaaraa
- Irish: cé, conas
- Isan: จั่งได๋ (jàng-dǎi)
- Italian: quanto (it)
- Japanese: どのように (dono yō ni), どうやって (dōyatte), どう (ja) (dō), どんなに (donna ni), 争で (いかで, ika de)
- Kapampangan: pilan
- Kashubian: jak
- Kazakh: қалай (kk) (qalai), қалайша (qalaişa)
- Khmer: តើប៉ុន្មាន (taə ponmaan)
- Korean: 얼마나 (ko) (eolmana)
- Krymchak: кыбык
- Kurdish:
- Central Kurdish: چەن (çen)
- Northern Kurdish: çend (ku)
- Kyrgyz: кандай (ky) (kanday), кандайча (ky) (kandayca)
- Lao: ເຊັ່ນໃດ (sen dai), ພຽງໃດ (phīang dai)
- Latgalian: kai
- Latin: quam (la)
- Latvian: kā (lv), cik
- Lithuanian: kaip
- Luxembourgish: wéi (lb)
- Macedonian: како (kako)
- Malay: bagaimana (ms)
- Maltese: kif (mt)
- Manchu: ᠠᠪᠰᡳ (absi)
- Maori: pēhea
- Mòcheno: bia
- Mongolian: яаж (mn) (jaaž)
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: hvor (no)
- Nynorsk: kor
- Old English: hū
- Pashto: څرنګه (cᶕranga)
- Persian: چقدر (fa) (čeqadr)
- Polish: jak (pl)
- Portuguese: quanto (pt), o quanto
- Rapa Nui: pehea
- Romanian: cât (ro)
- Russian: как (ru) (kak), наско́лько (ru) (naskólʹko)
- Scots: hoo
- Scottish Gaelic: ciamar
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: како
- Roman: kako (sh)
- Sinhalese: කොහොමද (kohomada)
- Slovak: ako
- Slovene: kakó (sl)
- Spanish: cómo de, qué tan, cuán (es)
- Swedish: hur (sv)
- Tagalog: gaano
- Tajik: чӣ xeл (tg) (čī xel), чӣ гуна (tg) (čī guna), чӣ тавр (tg) (čī tavr)
- Tatar: ничек (niçek), кайсылай (qaysılay)
- Thai: อย่างไร (th) (yàang-rai)
- Tibetan: ལོད (lod)
- Turkish: nasıl (tr), nice (tr)
- Turkmen: nähili, neneň
- Ukrainian: як (uk) (jak)
- Urdu: کیسے (kaise)
- Uyghur: قانداق (qandaq)
- Uzbek: qalay (uz)
- Vietnamese: thế nào (vi), làm sao (vi), sao (vi)
- Welsh: pa mor
- Zazaki: seni
- Zealandic: 'oe
|
in what manner
- Adyghe: сыдэу (sədɛwu)
- Afrikaans: hoe (af)
- Albanian: si
- American Sign Language: BentB@BackFinger-PalmBack-BentB@CenterChesthigh-PalmBack OpenC@Ulnar-PalmUp-OpenC@CenterChesthigh-PalmUp
- Antillean Creole: kijan, kimannyè, okonsa, ankijan
- Arabic: كَيْف (kayf)
- Egyptian Arabic: ازاي (ezzāy)
- Hijazi Arabic: كيف (kēf)
- Iraqi Arabic: شلون (šlōn)
- Moroccan Arabic: كيفاش (kifāš), كيف (kīf)
- North Levantine Arabic: كيف (kīf), شلون (šlōn) (Syria)
- South Levantine Arabic: كيف (kīf)
- Armenian: ինչպես (hy) (inčʻpes)
- Aromanian: cum
- Assamese: কেনেকৈ (kenekoi)
- Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܕܵܐܟ݂ܝܼ (daḳī)
- Asturian: cómo (ast)
- Azerbaijani: necə (az)
- Belarusian: як (be) (jak)
- Bengali: কিভাবে (bn) (kibhabe), কীভাবে (bn) (kibhabe)
- Bikol Central: pano (bcl)
- Bulgarian: ко́лко (bg) (kólko), как (bg) (kak)
- Burmese: ဘယ် (my) (bhai), ဘယ်လို (my) (bhailui)
- Catalan: com (ca)
- Cheyenne: tónėše-
- Chichewa: bwanji
- Chickasaw: kaniht
- Chinese:
- Cantonese: 怎麼樣/怎么样 (zam2 mo1 joeng6) (formal), 怎麼/怎么 (zam2 mo1) (formal), 怎樣/怎样 (zam2 joeng6) (formal), 點樣/点样 (yue) (dim2 joeng6-2), 點/点 (dim2), 如何 (jyu4 ho4) (formal)
- Dungan: за (za), заму (zamu)
- Eastern Min: 將樣/将样 (ciŏng-iông)
- Hakka: 仰般 (ngióng-pân), 如何 (yì-hò)
- Hokkien: 怎樣/怎样 (zh-min-nan) (chóaⁿ-iūⁿ, cháiⁿ-iūⁿ), 怎仔樣/怎仔样 (chóaⁿ-á-iūⁿ, cháiⁿ-á-iūⁿ), 按怎 (zh-min-nan) (án-chóaⁿ, án-cháiⁿ, án-nóa, án-ná), 按怎樣/按怎样 (zh-min-nan) (án-chóaⁿ-iūⁿ, àn-chóaⁿ-iūⁿ), 如何 (zh-min-nan) (jû-hô, lû-hô, jî-hô)
- Mandarin: 怎麼樣/怎么样 (zh) (zěnmeyàng), 怎麼/怎么 (zh) (zěnme), 怎樣/怎样 (zh) (zěnyàng), 如何 (zh) (rúhé), 咋 (zh) (zǎ) (dialectal)
- Wu: 哪能 (na nen)
- Crimean Tatar: nasıl, neday, (northern dialect) qadiy
- Czech: jak (cs)
- Danish: hvordan (da), hvorledes (da)
- Dupaningan Agta: panyan
- Dutch: hoe (nl)
- Esperanto: kiel (eo)
- Estonian: kuidas (et)
- Finnish: miten (fi), kuinka (fi), millä tavalla, millä tavoin
- French: comment (fr)
- Friulian: cemût
- Galician: como (gl)
- Georgian: როგორ (rogor)
- German: wie (de)
- Gothic: 𐌱𐌹𐍈𐌴 (biƕē)
- Greek: πώς (el) (pós)
- Ancient: πῶς (pôs)
- Haitian Creole: kòman
- Hebrew: אֵיך (he) (ekh), כֵּיצַד (he) (keytsád)
- Hindi: कैसे (hi) (kaise), कैसा (hi) (kaisā)
- Hungarian: hogyan (hu), hogy (hu)
- Icelandic: hvernig (is)
- Ido: quale (io)
- Indonesian: bagaimana (id)
- Interlingua: como (ia)
- Iquito: jaátaaraa
- Irish: conas, cén chaoi, cad é mar
- Old Irish: co, cía chruth, cía indas, cindas
- Isan: จั่งได๋ (jàng-dǎi)
- Istriot: cume
- Italian: come (it)
- Japanese: どのように (dono yō ni), どうやって (dōyatte), どう (ja) (dō)
- Kapampangan: makananu, katnamu (dialectal)
- Kazakh: қалайша (qalaişa), қалай (kk) (qalai)
- Khmer: របៀបណា (rɔbiəp naa)
- Korean: 어떻게 (eotteoke), 어찌 (ko) (eojji)
- Kurdish:
- Central Kurdish: چۆن (çon)
- Northern Kurdish: çawa (ku), çawan (ku)
- Kyrgyz: кандайча (ky) (kandayca), кандай (ky) (kanday)
- Lao: ແນວໃດ (nǣu dai)
- Latin: qualiter, quōmodo (la), quō modo, quārē, quemadmodum, quī (la)
- Latvian: please add this translation if you can
- Lithuanian: kaip
- Low German: wiu (Paderbornisch)
- Luhya: orie
- Luxembourgish: wéi (lb)
- Macedonian: како (kako)
- Malay: bagaimana (ms)
- Maltese: kif (mt)
- Manchu: ᠠᡩᠠᡵᠠᠮᡝ (adarame)
- Maore Comorian: jeje
- Maori: pēhea
- Mari:
- Eastern Mari: кузе (kuze)
- Mauritian Creole: kouma
- Mòcheno: bia
- Mongolian: яаж (mn) (jaaž)
- Nahuatl: quen, quenin
- Neapolitan: cómme
- Nepali: कसरी (ne) (kasarī)
- Ngarrindjeri: mengye
- Ngazidja Comorian: hali dje
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: hvordan (no), hvorledes (no) (formal), åssen (no) (dialectal)
- Nynorsk: korleis (nn), korso (nn)
- Occitan: cossí (oc)
- Old Church Slavonic:
- Cyrillic: како (kako)
- Old English: hū
- Persian: چگونه (fa) (čegune), چطور (fa) (četowr), چجور (čejur)
- Polish: jak (pl)
- Portuguese: como (pt)
- Rapa Nui: pehea
- Romanian: cum (ro)
- Romansch: co, cu
- Russian: как (ru) (kak), каки́м о́бразом (ru) (kakím óbrazom)
- Sardinian: comente, acomenti, comenti, cumenti, cumeti
- Scots: hou
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: како
- Roman: kako (sh)
- Sicilian: comu (scn)
- Slovak: jak
- Slovene: kakó (sl)
- Sorbian:
- Lower Sorbian: kak
- Spanish: cómo (es)
- Sundanese: kumaha
- Swabian: wia
- Swahili: namna (sw), jinsi (sw), -je
- Swedish: hur (sv)
- Tagalog: paano (tl)
- Tajik: чӣ тавр (tg) (čī tavr), чӣ гуна (tg) (čī guna)
- Tatar: ничек (niçek)
- Telugu: ఏవిధముగా (ēvidhamugā)
- Thai: ยังไง (th) (yang-ngai), อย่างไร (th) (yàang-rai)
- Tibetan: ཇི་ལྟར (ji ltar) (literary), ག་འདྲས་ཟེ (ga 'dras ze)
- Tocharian B: mäkte
- Turkish: nasıl (tr)
- Turkmen: nähili, neneň
- Ukrainian: як (uk) (jak), як са́ме (jak sáme)
- Urdu: کیسے (kaisa)
- Uyghur: قانداق (qandaq)
- Uzbek: qanday (uz), necha (uz)
- Venetian: come (vec)
- Vietnamese: như thế nào, làm sao (vi), sao (vi)
- Volapük: lio (vo)
- Walloon: kimint (wa), comint (wa)
- Welsh: sut (cy), fel (cy), ffordd (cy)
- White Hmong: li cas
- Wolof: nan
- Yakut: хайдах (qaydaq)
- Yiddish: ווי (vi)
- Yoruba: bawo
- Yucatec Maya: bix
- Zazaki: seni
- Zealandic: 'oe
- Zhuang: baeq, baenzyiengh, daengjlawz, hauhlawz
- Zulu: kanjani
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in what state
- American Sign Language: BentB@BackFinger-PalmBack-BentB@CenterChesthigh-PalmBack OpenC@Ulnar-PalmUp-OpenC@CenterChesthigh-PalmUp
- Arabic: كَيْفَ (kayfa)
- Egyptian Arabic: ازاي (ezzāy)
- Hijazi Arabic: كيف (kēf)
- Iraqi Arabic: شلون (šlōn)
- Moroccan Arabic: كيفاش (kifāš), كيف (kīf)
- North Levantine Arabic: كيف (kīf), شلون (šlōn) (Syria)
- South Levantine Arabic: كيف (kīf)
- Armenian: ինչպես (hy) (inčʻpes)
- Assamese: কেনে (kene), কেনেকুৱা (kenekua)
- Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܕܵܐܟ݂ܝܼ (daḳī)
- Asturian: cómo (ast)
- Bulgarian: ко́лко (bg) (kólko), как (bg) (kak)
- Chinese:
- Cantonese: 點/点 (dim2), 如何 (ju4 ho4) (formal), 怎麼樣/怎么样 (zam2 mo1 joeng6) (formal), 怎樣/怎样 (zam2 joeng6) (formal)
- Hakka: 仰般 (ngióng-pân), 如何 (yì-hò)
- Hokkien: 按怎 (zh-min-nan) (án-chóaⁿ, án-cháiⁿ, án-nóa, án-ná), 怎樣/怎样 (zh-min-nan) (chóaⁿ-iūⁿ, cháiⁿ-iūⁿ), 如何 (zh-min-nan) (jû-hô, lû-hô, jî-hô)
- Mandarin: 怎麼樣/怎么样 (zh) (zěnmeyàng), 怎麼/怎么 (zh) (zěnme), 怎樣/怎样 (zh) (zěnyàng), 如何 (zh) (rúhé)
- Czech: jak (cs)
- Danish: hvordan (da), hvorledes (da)
- Dutch: hoe (nl)
- Esperanto: kiel (eo)
- Finnish: miten (fi), kuinka (fi), millainen (fi), minkälainen (fi)
- French: comment (fr)
- German: wie (de)
- Gothic: 𐍈𐌰𐌹𐍅𐌰 (ƕaiwa)
- Greek: πώς (el) (pós)
- Hebrew: אֵיך (he) (ekh)
- Hungarian: (what like) milyen (hu), (to be well or unwell) hogy (hu)
- Icelandic: hvernig (is)
- Indonesian: bagaimana (id)
- Italian: come (it)
- Japanese: どう (ja) (dō)
- Latin: quomodo (la)
- Low German: wiu (Paderbornisch)
- Luhya: orie
- Manchu: ᠠᠪᠰᡳ (absi)
- Mòcheno: bia
- Norwegian: hvordan (no)
- Old English: hū
- Persian: چطور (fa) (četowr), چگونه (fa) (čegune), چطوری (fa) (četori) (informal)
- Polish: jak (pl)
- Portuguese: como (pt)
- Russian: как (ru) (kak)
- Spanish: cómo (es)
- Sundanese: kumaha
- Tagalog: kumusta (tl)
- Tibetan: ཇི་ལྟར (ji ltar) (literary), ག་འདྲས (ga 'dras)
- Turkish: nasıl (tr)
- Ukrainian: як (uk) (jak)
- Venetian: come (vec)
- Welsh: sut (cy), fel (cy)
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used as a modifier to indicate surprise, delight, or other strong feelings
- Afrikaans: hoe (af)
- Albanian: si, çfarë (sq)
- Arabic: كَيْف (kayf)
- Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܕܵܐܟ݂ܝܼ (daḳī)
- Bulgarian: ко́лко (bg) (kólko), как (bg) (kak)
- Catalan: que (ca)
- Chinese:
- Cantonese: 多 (do1), 多麼/多么 (do1 mo1)
- Mandarin: 多 (zh) (duō), 多麼/多么 (zh) (duōme, duóme)
- Czech: jak (cs)
- Danish: hvor (da)
- Dutch: hoe (nl)
- Finnish: kuinka (fi), miten (fi)
- French: comme (fr), que (fr)
- German: wie (de)
- Greek: πολύ (el) (polý), πόσο (el) (póso), τι (el) (ti)
- Ancient: οἷον (hoîon), ὡς (hōs)
- Hebrew: כמה (he) (káma)
- Hindi: क्या (hi) (kyā)
- Hungarian: mennyire (hu), milyen (hu), de (hu)
- Icelandic: en (is)
- Indonesian: betapa (id)
- Irish: chomh
- Italian: che (it)
- Japanese: 何て (nante) 何と (nanto)
- Kapampangan: nankano nanta
- Kurdish:
- Central Kurdish: بۆچی (boçî)
- Northern Kurdish: çawa (ku), çawan (ku)
- Manchu: ᠠᠪᠰᡳ (absi)
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: så (no)
- Nynorsk: så (nn),
- Old English: hū
- Persian: چه (fa) (če), چقدر (fa) (čeqadr)
- Polish: jak (pl)
- Portuguese: como (pt), quão (pt)
- Romanian: ce (ro)
- Russian: как (ru) (kak)
- Scottish Gaelic: abair
- Serbo-Croatian: kako (sh)
- Slovene: kakó (sl)
- Spanish: qué (es), cómo (es)
- Swedish: så (sv), vad (sv)
- Thai: กระไร (gràrai)
- Tibetan: ག་ལ (ga la)
- Turkish: nasıl (tr)
- Venetian: che
- Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can
- Volapük: kio (vo)
- Welsh: am (cy)
- Yakut: хайдах (qaydaq)
- Zazaki: çend (diq)
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Conjunction
how
- The manner or way in which.
- I remember how I solved this puzzle.
- In any way in which; in whatever way; however.
- People should be free to live how they want.
- That, the fact that.
- She told me how her father was a doctor.
Translations
the manner or way in which
- American Sign Language: inside-Y-twist
- Arabic: كَيْف (kayf)
- Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܕܵܐܟ݂ܝܼ (daḳī)
- Chinese:
- Cantonese: 點/点 (dim2), 點樣/点样 (yue) (dim2 joeng6-2), 如何 (jyu4 ho4) (formal), 怎樣/怎样 (zam2 joeng6) (formal), 怎麼/怎么 (zam2 mo1) (formal), 怎麼樣/怎么样 (zam2 mo1 joeng6)
- Hakka: 仰般 (ngióng-pân), 如何 (yì-hò)
- Hokkien: 怎樣/怎样 (zh-min-nan) (chóaⁿ-iūⁿ, cháiⁿ-iūⁿ), 按怎 (zh-min-nan) (án-chóaⁿ, án-cháiⁿ, án-nóa, án-ná), 如何 (zh-min-nan) (jû-hô, lû-hô, jî-hô)
- Mandarin: 怎樣/怎样 (zh) (zěnyàng), 如何 (zh) (rúhé), 怎麼樣/怎么样 (zh) (zěnmeyàng), 怎麼/怎么 (zh) (zěnme)
- Crimean Tatar: nasıl, neday, (northern dialect) qadiy
- Czech: jak (cs)
- Danish: hvordan (da), hvorledes (da)
- Dutch: hoe (nl)
- Esperanto: kiel (eo)
- Finnish: kuinka (fi), miten (fi), millä tavalla
- French: comment (fr)
- German: wie (de)
- Greek: πώς (el) (pós)
- Ancient: ὅπως (hópōs), ὡς (hōs), πῶς (pôs), ὅπῃ (hópēi), ᾗ (hêi)
- Hebrew: איך (he) (éykh), כיצד (he) (keytsád) (literary)
- Hungarian: hogy (hu), hogyan (hu)
- Italian: come (it)
- Japanese: どう (ja) (dō)
- Korean: 방법 (ko) (bangbeop), 방식 (ko) (bangsik)
- Kyrgyz: кандай (ky) (kanday)
- Malay: bagaimana (ms)
- Maltese: il-kif
- Norwegian: hvordan (no)
- Polish: w jaki sposób, jak (pl)
- Portuguese: como (pt)
- Russian: как (ru) (kak)
- Slovene: kakó (sl)
- Spanish: como (es)
- Swedish: hur (sv)
- Telugu: ఎలా (te) (elā), ఎట్లా (eṭlā)
- Tibetan: སྟངས (stangs), ཇི་ལྟར (ji ltar), ག་འདྲས (ga 'dras), ག་འདྲས་ཟེ (ga 'dras ze)
- Turkish: nasıl (tr)
- Ukrainian: як (uk) (jak), як са́ме (jak sáme), яки́м чи́ном (jakým čýnom)
- Venetian: come (vec)
- Welsh: sut (cy), fel (cy), ffordd (cy)
- Zealandic: 'oe-a (non-conjugated form)
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in any way in which; in whatever way
— see however
Noun
how (plural hows or how's)
- The means by which something is accomplished.
- I am not interested in the why, but in the how.
1924, Joseph Rickaby, Studies on God and His Creatures, page 102:It is an a posteriori argument, evincing the fact, but not the how.
2008 March 21, The New York Times, “Movie Guide and Film Series”, in New York Times:A wham-bam caper flick, efficiently directed by Roger Donaldson, that fancifully revisits the mysterious whos and speculative hows of a 1971 London bank heist.
Etymology 2
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.
Alternative forms
Noun
how (plural hows)
- (dialectal) An artificial barrow or tumulus; in later folklore, associated with fairies.
1928, Lewis Spence, Mysteries of Britain, page v. 136: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.
1985, Jennifer Westwood, Albion, published 1992, page xi. 432:The fairy feast inside the howe (and this barrow is hill-sized) reminds one of nothing so much as a tale in the Icelandic Eyrbyggia saga, written in the mid thirteenth century.
- (dialectal) A small hill in northern England.
Usage notes
- Usage is preserved mainly in place names.
Etymology 3
From a Siouan language; compare Lakota háu. Alternatively from Wyandot haau.
Alternative forms
Interjection
how
- A greeting, used in representations of Native American speech.
References
- “how”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “how”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
- “how”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Anagrams
Abau
Pronunciation
Noun
how
- taro
Alabama
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation
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This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!
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Adverb
how
- yes
Synonyms
Lower Sorbian
Pronunciation
Adverb
how
- here
Further reading
- Muka, Arnošt (1921, 1928) “how”, in Słownik dolnoserbskeje rěcy a jeje narěcow (in German), St. Petersburg, Prague: ОРЯС РАН, ČAVU; Reprinted Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag, 2008
- Starosta, Manfred (1999) “how”, in Dolnoserbsko-nimski słownik / Niedersorbisch-deutsches Wörterbuch (in German), Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag
Middle English
Etymology 1
From Old English hū, from Proto-West Germanic *hwō, from Proto-Germanic *hwō.
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
Adverb
how
- how
Descendants
Conjunction
how
- how
Descendants
References
Etymology 2
Noun
how
- Alternative form of hough (“promontory”)
Yola
Adverb
how
- Alternative form of fowe
1867, GLOSSARY OF THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY:How yarthe to-die, mee joee?- How art thou to-day, my joy?
References
- Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 80