Etymology 1

Adverb

1. To what degree.

   How often do you practice?

2. In what manner.

   How do you solve this puzzle?

   How else can we get this finished?

3. How very interesting!

   How wonderful it was to receive your invitation.

Adjective

1. In what state.

   How are you?

   How was your vacation?

Noun

1. The means by which something is accomplished.

   I am not interested in the why, but in the how.

   • 1924, Joseph Rickaby, Studies on God and His Creatures‎, p. 102:

     It is an a posteriori argument, evincing the fact, but not the how.

Noun

1. An artificial barrow or tumulus.
2. A small hill in northern England. (Usage preserved mainly in place names.)