Meanings
plural howitzers
- A cannon that combines certain characteristics of field guns and mortars, delivering projectiles with medium velocities, usually with relatively high trajectories; normally a cannon with a tube length of 20 to 30 calibers.
- ball gamesA powerfully hit shot.
Belgium took a little while to catch Scotland with the first of the howitzer blows, but when the first one landed there was a certainty of more. Many more.
2018 September 7, Tom English, “Scotland 0-4 Belgium”, in BBC Sport
present singular third person howitzers · participle present howitzering · participle past howitzered · past howitzered
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna muzzle-loading high-angle gun with a short barrel that fires shells at high elevations for a short range
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old High Germanhūfo
- Middle High Germanhufe“heap”
- Czechhoufnice
- Middle High Germanhaufniz
- GermanHaubitze
- Dutchhouwitser
- Englishhowitzer
Borrowed from Dutch houwitser, from German Haubitze, from Middle High German haufniz, from Czech houfnice, which was derived from houf (“flock, crowd”) + -nice. The Czech noun houf comes from Middle High German hufe (“heap”), from Old High German hūfo.
More words from Dutch, German, Middle High German
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans houwitser
- houwitsera cannon
Bulgarian га́убица, боц
- га́убица (gáubica)a cannon
- боц (boc)shot in sports
Catalan obús
- obúsa cannon
Chinese Mandarin 榴彈炮 /榴弹炮
- 榴彈炮 /榴弹炮 (liúdànpào)a cannon
Czech houfnice, dělovka
- houfnicea cannon
- dělovkashot in sports
- bombashot in sports
Danish haubits
- haubitsa cannon
Dutch houwitser
- houwitsera cannon
Estonian haubits
- haubitsa cannon
Finnish haupitsi
- haupitsia cannon
French obusier
- obusiera cannon
German Haubitze
- Haubitzea cannon
Greek οβιδοβόλο
- οβιδοβόλο (ovidovólo)a cannon
Hungarian tarack
- taracka cannon
Indonesian howitzer
- howitzera cannon
Irish habhatsar
- habhatsara cannon
Italian obice
- obicea cannon
Japanese 榴弾砲
- 榴弾砲 (ryūdanhō)a cannon
Korean 곡사포, 유탄포
- 곡사포 (goksapo)a cannon
- 유탄포 (yutanpo)a cannon
- 류탄포 (ryutanpo)a cannon
Latvian haubice
- haubicea cannon
Lithuanian haubica
- haubicaa cannon
Norwegian Bokmål haubits
- haubitsa cannon
Polish haubica
- haubicaa cannon
Portuguese obus, morteiro
- obusa cannon
- morteiroa cannon
Romanian obuzier
- obuziera cannon
Russian га́убица
- га́убица (gáubica)a cannon
Slovak húfnica
- húfnicaa cannon
Spanish obús
- obúsa cannon
Swedish haubits
- haubitsa cannon
Turkish obüs
- obüsa cannon
Ukrainian га́убиця
- га́убиця (háubycja)a cannon
Vietnamese lựu pháo
- lựu pháoa cannon
Cite this entry
howitzer. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/howitzer
“howitzer.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/howitzer. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “howitzer,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/howitzer.
Source: howitzer on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.