listen
Part of speech: verb
noun
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: From Middle English listenen, listnen, alteration (due to Middle English listen (“to listen, give heed to”)) of Old English hlysnan (“to listen”), from Proto-Germanic *hlusnijaną, *hlusnōną (compare Middle High German lüsenen), from Proto-Germanic *hlusēną (compare Old High German hlosēn), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱlew- (“to hear”).
Cognate with Swedish lyssna (“to listen”).
Compare Ancient Greek κλαίω (klaíō, “to make known, famous”), Welsh clywed (“to hear”), Latin clueō (“to be famous”), Lithuanian klausýti, Old Church Slavonic слушати (slušati, “to hear”), Sanskrit श्रोषति (śróṣati, “an exclamation used in making an offering with fire to the gods or departed spirits”) & Sanskrit श्लोक्य (ślókya, “voice, sound, noisy”)).
Related to loud and German lauschen.
Inflected forms:
form: listens
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: listening
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: listened
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: listened
pos: verb
tags: past
form: lisen
pos: verb
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: lis'en
pos: verb
tags: alternative
pronunciation-spelling
rare
form: lissen
pos: verb
tags: alternative
pronunciation-spelling
rare
form: listens
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: lisen
pos: noun
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: lis'en
pos: noun
tags: alternative
pronunciation-spelling
rare
form: lissen
pos: noun
tags: alternative
pronunciation-spelling
rare
Senses:
gloss: To use one's sense of hearing and auditory cognition in an intentional way; to make deliberate use of one's ears; to pay attention to or wait for a specific sound.
pos: verb
examples: Please listen carefully as I explain.
I could hear you talking upstairs, but I didn’t really listen to your conversation.
It was April 22, 1831, and a young man was walking down Whitehall in the direction of Parliament Street.[…]. He halted opposite the Privy Gardens, and, with his face turned skywards, listened until the sound of the Tower guns smote again on the ear and dispelled his doubts.
He reined Wrangle to a walk, halted now and then to listen, and then proceeded cautiously with shifting and alert gaze.
He read the letter aloud. Sophia listened with the studied air of one for whom, even in these days, a title possessed some surreptitious allurement.
(transitive, archaic)
Listen the watchman’s cry upon the wall.
'But, sir, lyars ye have lystened, and that hath caused grete debate betwyxte you and me.'
Lady, vouchsafe to listen what I say.
Here laid his Scrip, with wholesome Viands fill'd, / There, listening every Noise, his watchful Dog.
[with to]
I like to listen to music.
I'm listening to what you say / Even though I look the other way / But you could never understand / The feeling of what I'm needing
[with for]
You should listen for the starting gun.
gloss: To accept advice or obey instruction; to agree or assent.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: Listen, the only reason I yelled at you was because I was upset, OK?
Good children listen to their parents.
Never listen when they tell you that Man and the animals have a common interest[…].
gloss: An instance of listening.
pos: noun
examples: Give the motor a listen and tell me if it sounds off.
The diss song, “Back to Back,” now has more than 124 million listens, a sign that the streaming can attract a sizable audience for a single track.
I hadn't spoken to her in a year, but she could still see my listens on the music platform we both used.
Synonyms: attend
be all ears
behear
earball
give ear
hark
harken
heed
lend an ear
list
listen close
mind
note
Antonyms: disregard
ignore
Related words: list
listful
obey
sound
Derived words: do a listen
listenability
listenable
listen after
listener
listenership
listen in
listening
listening post
listening station
listen out
listen to you
listen up
listen with half an ear
mislisten
nonlistening
prelisten
prooflisten
pseudolisten
relisten
talk to the hand 'cause the face ain't listening
time spent listening
unlisten
unlistenable
unlistened
unlistening
Translations: