hearken
/ˈhɑɹkən/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.29 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "This King of Naples being an Enemy / To me inueterate, hearkens my Brothers ſuit, / Which was, That he in lieu o' th' premiſes, / Of homage, and I know not how much Tribute, / Should preſently extirpate me and mine / Out of the Dukedome, and confer faire Milane / With all the Honors, on my brother: […]"
- "With pleaſure he hearkens the heart-ſoothing chear / Shakes Morpheus and ſlumber away; / While joyful he ſtarts, and with ſpeed doth appear / The foremoſt to welcome the day."
- "Tho' I cannot speak a word, I shall hearken what ye say, / And be often—often with ye when ye think I'm faraway."
- "And now a sweet bird calls its scattered mates, / And gaily hearkens the unburdened heart."
- "Up in the spire / The watcher set high o'er the half-hid town / Hearkens the sound of chiming bells fall down / Below him: […]"
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈhɑɹkən/
- British English: /ˈhɑːk(ə)n/
Usage
Inflected Forms
hearkens (present, singular)
hearkening (participle, present)
hearkened (participle, past)
hearkened (past)
no-table-tags (table tags)
glossary (inflection template)
hearkened (first person, past)
hearkenest (archaic, present)
hearkened (past, second person)
hearkenedst (archaic, past)
hearkeneth (archaic, present)
hearkened (past, singular)