What does "howbeit" mean?

Be that as it may; nevertheless.

What is a synonym for "howbeit"?

Common synonyms include: after all, again, albeit, all the same, although, as.

//haʊˈbiː.ɪt// adv, conj

adv, conj ·Common ·High school level

Adverb

1
Be that as it may; nevertheless. archaic, not-comparable
"I will goe waſh : / And when my Face is faire, you ſhall perceiue / Whether I bluſh, or no : howbeit, I thanke you, / I meane to ſtride your Steed, and at all times / To vnder-creſt your good Addition, / To th’ faireneſſe of my power."

Conjunction

1
Although. archaic
"The Ueynes are ſpred foorth throughout the whole bodie, howbeit from one welhead, that is to ſay from the Liuer: ſo be the Sinews, howbeit from the Brayne; So likewiſe are the Heartſtrings, howbeit from the Heart."

"Howbeit, otherwise also she is truly my sister, the daughter of my father, and not the daughter of my mother, and I took her to wife."

Univerbation of how + be + it, literally “however it [may] be”.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.