how

Meanings

Adverb

• To what degree.
• In what manner.
• In what state.

Noun

• The means by which something is accomplished.
• An artificial barrow or tumulus.
• A small hill in northern England. (Usage preserved mainly in place names.)

Origin

• From Middle English how, hou, hu, hwu, from Old English hū, from Proto-Germanic *hwō, from the same root as hwæt. /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, Saterland Frisian wo ("how"), West Frisian hoe ("how"), Low German ho, wo, wu, Dutch hoe ("how"), German wie ("how"), Swedish hur ("how"). See who and compare why.
• From Middle English howe, hough, hogh, partly from Old English hōh, and partly from Old Norse haugr. Compare Old French höe, from the same Germanic source.
• From a language; compare Lakota háu. Alternatively from Wyandot haau.