Etymology Explorer › Old English

Where does “hū” come from?

hū (Old English) comes from Proto-Germanic hwō, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷís.

hū (Old English): how

Definitions

  1. how

Ancestry of “hū”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Proto-Germanichwōhow, with what, by what means; instrumental of...
2Proto-Indo-European*kʷís—

Words derived from “hū”

  • anyhow
  • howsoever
  • nohow
  • howbeit
  • howe
  • how've
  • howso
  • everyhow
  • howness
  • elsehow
  • hou
  • hwu
  • hu
  • how
  • how
Every word from Proto-Indo-European *kʷís →