harken
/ˈhɑɹkən/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.19 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "How, then, am I mad? Harken! and observe how healthily—how calmly I can tell you the whole story."
- "[T]he mother who had shaped him if any had toward the man he almost was, [...] whom he had revered and harkened to and loved and lost and grieved: [...]"
- "Bell argued that the manual approach was "backwards," and harkened to a primitive age where humans used gesture and pantomime."
Etymology
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *h₂ew-, Harken
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈhɑɹkən/
- British English: /ˈhɑːk(ə)n/
Usage
- American usage
- Intransitive verb