howe
UK/haʊ/
howe is the alternative form of how.
Meaning of how
Noun (1)
- The means by which something is accomplished.
- I am not interested in the why, but in the how.
Noun (2)
how (plural hows)
- An artificial barrow or tumulus; in later folklore, associated with fairies.
- 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.1928, Lewis Spence, Mysteries of Britain, page v. 136
- In northern England, a low hill.
Proper noun capitalized: Howe
Howe (countable and uncountable, plural Howes)
- An English topographic surname from Middle English for someone who lived by a small hill.
- A male given name transferred from the surname.
- The plot tells the story of two New York bankers, Keene and Swift, the former having a daughter and the latter a son. Howe Swift, Jr., played by Mr. Rogers, has been educated abroad.1909 November 11, “Max Rogers in ‘Young Turk’: Klaw & Erlanger Present a New Musical Play at Atlantic City”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC
- Surviving, besides his brother, are a widow, the former Jennie Teele, and a son Howe Coolidge Amee, a Cambridge lawyer.1932 September 16, “John Amee, Friend of Harvard Men, Dead […]”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC
- A small village and civil parish (without a council) in South Norfolk district, Norfolk, England (OS grid ref TM2799).
- A small village and civil parish (without a council) in North Yorkshire, England, previously in Hambleton district (OS grid ref SE3580).
- A scattered settlement in Caithness, Highland council area, Scotland (OS grid ref ND3061).
- An unincorporated community in Butte County, Idaho.
- An unincorporated community and census-designated place in LaGrange County, Indiana.
- A neighbourhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
- An unincorporated community in Nemaha County, Nebraska.
- A town in Le Flore County, Oklahoma.
- An unincorporated community in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania.
- A town in Grayson County, Texas.
- Three townships, in Pennsylvania (2), and North Dakota, listed under Howe Township.
Forms of howe
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | howes |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Howes |
Origin of howe
* As an English surname, from Middle English hoʒe (“steep ridge”), a late variant of hōge, dative case of Old English hoh (“hock, heel”), with likely influence from Old Norse haugr (“hill”). * Also as an English surname, variant of Hugh, pronounced to rhyme with how. * As a Norwegian surname, Americanized from Hove, from the dative singular of Old Norse hof (“place of worship”). * As an Irish surname, variant of Haugh; also a variant of Hoey. * As a Chinese surname, variant romanization of 侯, see also Hou. * Also as a Chinese surname, possibly from Cantonese form of the names 豪 (háo), 浩, and 昊 (hào).
Words formed from howe
Phrases with howe
Questions about howe
- What does howe mean?
- Howe means an English topographic surname from Middle English for someone who lived by a small hill.
- What is howe the alternative form of?
- Howe is the alternative form of how.
- What part of speech is howe?
- Howe is a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce howe?
- Howe is pronounced /haʊ/ (UK).
Words near howe in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: howe (page history and authors); Howe (page history and authors); how (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.
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Cite this entry: “howe.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/howe. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.