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Added 10 October 2026

how

/haʊ/ symbol

In Latin: quam Wiktionary

symbol Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about how at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

ISO 639-3 language code for Honi.

adverb

To what degree or extent.
How often do you practice?
In what manner: By what means.
How do you solve this puzzle? –Sorry, I can't remember how.
By what means.
How do you solve this puzzle? –Sorry, I can't remember how.

conjunction

Used to state that something is in a certain way or state.
She told me how her father was a doctor.

interjection

What?, pardon?

Origin

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.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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