Hearken
verb ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
- 1 To hear (something) with attention; to have regard to (something). transitive
"Thenceforth ſhe paſt into his dreadfull den, / VVhere nought but darkeſome drerineſſe ſhe found, / Ne creature ſaw, but hearkned now and then / Some little whiſpering, and ſoft groaning ſound."
- 2 listen; used mostly in the imperative wordnet
- 3 To listen; to attend or give heed to what is uttered; to hear with attention, compliance, or obedience. intransitive
"Who ſo hearkeneth vnto me, ſhal not come to confuſion, & they that worke by me, ſhal not offende; [they that make me to be knowen, ſhal haue euerlaſting life.]"
- 4 To enquire; to seek information. intransitive, obsolete
"Claudio. Hearken after their offence my Lord. / Prince. Officers, what offence haue theſe men done?"
Example
More examples"Ho ho, you have always been the brightest amongst my grandchildren! But hearken now: I have come from the nether realm to entrust thee with a task of utmost importance!"
Etymology
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), thus equivalent to hark + -en. The spelling of the English word was probably influenced by hear; a similarly analogical pronunciation existed in Early Modern English.
Related phrases
More for "hearken"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.