Hark
noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A whisper
- 1 To listen attentively. archaic, imperative, often
"But harke, I heare the footing of a man."
- 2 listen; used mostly in the imperative wordnet
Example
More examples""What the hell?! Hark, what have you done?" "Nothing yet. ...No, I have.""
Etymology
From Middle English herken, herkien, from Old English *hercian, *heorcian, *hiercian, from Proto-West Germanic *hauʀikōn, *hauʀukōn, derived ultimately from Proto-Germanic *hauzijaną (“to hear”) + formative/intensive -k (see also the related hīeran, whence English hear). Equivalent to hear + -k. Cognate with Scots herk (“to hark”), North Frisian harke (“to hark”), West Frisian harkje (“to listen”), obsolete Dutch horken (“to hark, listen to”), Middle Low German horken (“to hark”), German horchen (“to hark, harken to”).
Related phrases
More for "hark"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.