You can think of “howbeit” as a sort of hybrid of two other words: “however” and “albeit.” All three words are synonyms and can be used as conjunctions, but each choice might add a slightly different tone to your statement. Similar to how “albeit” originated in the 14th century as a contraction of “all be it” (short for “although it be”), “howbeit” appeared as a Middle English contraction of “how be it.” This may seem like odd phrasing to our modern ears, but back in the Middle Ages, “How be it with you?” was a common greeting.