Anyhow

How to spell anyhow

6 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce anyhow

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does anyhow mean?

1. adverbIn any case; regardless of other considerations; used to resume or sum up a point.
2. adverbIn a careless, haphazard, or disorderly way.

Anyhow in a sentence

• The meeting was cancelled, but anyhow we had already finished the report.

• The files were stacked anyhow across his desk with no order at all.

• The train was late, though anyhow she arrived in time for the interview.

• She packed the boxes anyhow, so half the dishes broke in transit.

Where does anyhow come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Anyhow is a transparent English compound, built simply from 'any' and 'how', and so its parts can be traced straight back to Old English. The first element comes from ænig, meaning 'some' or 'one of any', itself derived from an, the ancestor of 'one'. The second element comes from hu, the Old English word for 'in what manner', a relative of 'who' and 'what'. The two were stitched together in the late 1700s to mean 'in any manner whatever' and then quickly broadened to the looser conversational sense of 'in any case' or 'at all events'. Because both halves remain ordinary modern words, the spelling holds no real surprises, though writers sometimes hesitate over whether to keep it as one word, which it is.

How the word is built

• any (from Old English ænig: some, one of)
• how (from Old English hū: in what manner)