Harken

//ˈhɑːk(ə)n// name, verb

name, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    Alternative spelling of hearken: to hear, to listen, to have regard. US, alt-of, alternative, ambitransitive

    "Ev'n from the depths of Hell the Damn'd advance, / Th' Infernal Manſions nodding ſeem to dance; / The gaping three-mouth'd Dog forgets to ſnarl, / The Furies harken, and their Snakes uncurl."

  2. 2
    listen; used mostly in the imperative wordnet
  3. 3
    To hark back, to return or revert (to a subject, etc.), to allude to, to evoke, to long or pine for (a past event or era). US, figuratively, intransitive

    "Bell argued that the manual approach was "backwards," and harkened to a primitive age where humans used gesture and pantomime."

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname from German.

Synonyms

All synonyms
attendearballharkharkhearkenlisten

Example

More examples

"There, in a temple built of ancient stone / I worship: "Grant, Thymbrean lord divine, / a home, a settled city of our own, / walls to the weary, and a lasting line, / to Troy another Pergamus. Incline / and harken. Save these Dardans sore-distrest, / the remnant of Achilles' wrath. Some sign / vouchsafe us, whom to follow? where to rest? / Steal into Trojan hearts, and make thy power confessed.""

Etymology

Etymology 1

See hearken

Etymology 2

Borrowed from North German Harken.

Related phrases

harken backhark back

More for "harken"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

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