hearken

Meaning

1. To hear (something) with attention; to have regard to (something).
2. To listen; to attend or give heed to what is uttered; to hear with attention, compliance, or obedience.
3. (obsolete) To enquire; to seek information.

Synonyms

hark

harken

listen

listen to

give ear

give heed

pay attention

pay attention to

hear

lend an ear

listen carefully

take notice

hearken to

give an ear to

hark to

give ear to

appertain

list to

catch

get

heed

list

listen in

read

📖

tune in

give heed to

Hyphenated as

heark‧en

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈhɑːk(ə)n/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: herkenen

Inherited from Old English: hercnian

In summary

From Middle English herkenen (“to listen (attentively); to pay attention, take heed”) [and other forms], from Old English hercnian, heorcnian, hyrcnian, from *heorcian (“to hark”) infixed with -n-, from Proto-West Germanic *hauʀijan, from Proto-Germanic *hauzijaną (“to hear”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ḱh₂owsyéti (“to be sharp-eared, hear well”), from *h₂eḱ- (“sharp”) + *h₂ṓws (“ear”) + *-yéti (denominative suffix). The spelling of the English word was probably influenced by hear, and can be analysed as hark + -en.