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🔙 To recall the past 👂 To listen closely
to harken

to harken

1 9.9
To listen carefully and pay attention
  • verb
  • /ˈhɑrkən/
  • Archaic
translation icon : escuchar
  • Harkening to a rhetoric of "bravery and stoicism," FSV pitches its "Dear Seminole" letter in order to secure development dollars from its similarly valiant and successful Seminole alumni base.

Examples

  • Harken to my words, for they hold great wisdom.

  • I have not harkened to your voice.

    The New World (2005)

  • You'd better have minded what the parson says and not harkened after menfolks.

    Tom Jones (1963)

  • If you're traveling the world and working on your laptop all the time, writing these wonderful inspiring posts, programming, and building new companies, you won't need to run; it harkens a question:

    Blog text (3)

  • He also harkened to the day in the late 1950s when the corps marched and performed in the Rose Parade in Santa Rosa, then a second parade in Fairfield, and then a third in Napa.

    Blog text (20)

  • Harken to the sound of the bell; it signals the start of our meeting.

  • As we gather here, I urge you to harken to the stories of our ancestors.

Synonyms

to listen
vsto harken
∞ 1.0

Pay attention to sounds or speech to hear and understand them

refers specifically to giving heed in older language rather than general hearing
to hear
vsto harken
∞ 1.0

Listen to someone carefully to consider what they say

emphasizes attentive listening in an older imperative rather than general perception
to hang
vsto harken
  • Informal
143 7.5

To listen very closely to every word someone says

focuses on attentive hearing but in an older, imperative style
to hark
vsto harken
  • Archaic
16 9.9

Listen carefully to a sound, often to call someone's attention

is an older imperative form used to call for attentive listening
to lend an ear
vsto harken
  • Informal
3 3.2

To listen to someone and show you care

means attentive hearing but without the emotional support implied here
to give ear
vsto harken
  • Archaic
1 6.2

To listen carefully to someone

means the same attentive listening but in older, less common usage
to give heed
vsto harken
1 6.4

To pay careful attention to what someone says or does

has identical meaning but appears as an older, rarely used form

How Attentive

to harken
  • Archaic
1 9.9
to listen
∞ 1.0
to hear
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

harken infinitive
harked past
harked past participle
harkening present participle
harkens third person singular

Morphology

harken = hark (semi-transparent) = hark + en

The sense is closely related to 'hark', but the archaic verb form with '-en' is not fully transparent to modern learners.

Etymology

Harken comes from an old English word that meant 'to hear' and is closely related to the modern word hear and the short call hark, so to harken is to pay close attention or 'listen'—just like telling someone 'hear this!'.