Word.ws English Dictionary

Howard

Syllables: How·ard/ˈhaʊəd/US/ˈhaʊɚd/

Howard proper noun: a surname originating as a patronymic. Also the ellipsis of Howard University.

Proper noun

Howard (countable and uncountable, plural Howards)

  1. A surname originating as a patronymic.
    • Henry Howard, the most noble Earl of Surry, who flourishing in the time of King Henry the 8.th, as his name is sufficiently famous for the martial exploits of that family for many generations, so deserves he, had he his due, the particular fame of learning, wit, and poetic fancy1675, Edward Phillips, Egerton Brydges, Theatrum Poetarum Anglicanorum, page V
  2. A male given name from the Germanic languages, transferred back from the surname. Short form: Howie.
    • "King Howard Kashpaw, Junior," said his new teacher. "Which one of those names would you like to be called?"
      He had never thought about it.
      "Howard," he was surprised to hear himself answer. It was that simple. After that he was Howard at school. - - -
      ""He don't call himself Little King anymore,"...1984, Louise Erdrich, Love Medicine, Bantam Books, published 1987, →ISBN, page 238,250
    • “For most of human history, the question of whether or not life exists elsewhere has belonged only within the philosophical realm,” said Howard Chen, study author and Ph.D candidate at Northwestern University.2019 November 11, Ashley Strickland, “What makes a planet potentially habitable”, in CNN
  3. A census-designated place in Fremont County, Colorado.
  4. A neighbourhood of Kendall, Miami-Dade County, Florida.
  5. An unincorporated community in Liberty Township, Parke County, Indiana.
  6. A small city, the county seat of Elk County, Kansas.
  7. An unincorporated community in Holmes County, Mississippi.
  8. A town in Steuben County, New York.
  9. A township and census-designated place therein, in Knox County, Ohio.
  10. A borough in Centre County, Pennsylvania.
  11. A neighbourhood of Cranston, Providence County, Rhode Island.
  12. A small city, the county seat of Miner County, South Dakota.
Show 4 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. A village in Brown County and Outagamie County, Wisconsin, named after Benjamin Howard.
  2. A town and unincorporated community therein, in Chippewa County, Wisconsin, also named after Benjamin Howard.
  3. A number of other townships in the United States, listed under Howard Township.
  4. A rural town in Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia.

Also used as

Howard is also the ellipsis of Howard University.

Howard meaning in Arabic

Howard in Arabic

surname
هُوَارْد huwārd

Forms of Howard

pluralHowards

Origin of Howard

Medieval personal name from Middle English Howard, Howarde, from Old Norse Hávarðr, from hár (“high”) + varðr (“guard”). In some cases a variant of Heward, from Old French Huard.

Words formed from Howard

Phrases with Howard

Questions about Howard

What does Howard mean?
Howard means a surname originating as a patronymic.
What is Howard in Arabic?
Howard in Arabic is هُوَارْد (huwārd). See Howard meaning in Arabic.
What part of speech is Howard?
Howard is a proper noun.
How do you pronounce Howard?
Howard is pronounced /ˈhaʊɚd/ (US).

Words near Howard in the dictionary

  1. howajji
  2. howajjis
  3. Howald
  4. Howalds
  5. howandever
  6. Howard
  7. Howard Beach
  8. Howard County
  9. Howard's battlers
  10. howardevansite
  11. Howardian

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Howard (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Howard.wav.

Cite this entry: “Howard.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/howard. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.