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hearken

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heark⋅en

  [hahr-kuhn]
Use hearken in a Sentence
–verb (used without object)
1. Literary. to give heed or attention to what is said; listen.
–verb (used with object)
2. Archaic. to listen to; hear.
Also, harken.

Origin:
1150–1200; ME hercnen, OE he(o)rcnian, suffixed form of assumed *heorcian; see hark, -en 1

Related forms:
heark⋅en⋅er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To hearken
hear·ken also har·ken   (här'kən)   
v.   hear·kened also har·kened, hear·ken·ing also har·ken·ing, hear·kens also har·kens

v.   intr.
To listen attentively; give heed.
v.   tr. Archaic
To listen to; hear.

[Middle English herknen, from Old English hercnian; see kous- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Hearken

Heark"en\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Hearkened; p. pr. & vb. n. Hearkening.] [OE. hercnen, hercnien, AS. hercnian, heorcnian, fr. hi['e]ran, h?ran, to hear; akin to OD. harcken, horcken, LG. harken, horken, G. horchen. See Hear, and cf. Hark.]

1. To listen; to lend the ear; to attend to what is uttered; to give heed; to hear, in order to obey or comply.

The Furies hearken, and their snakes uncurl. --Dryden.

Hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you. --Deut. iv. 1.

2. To inquire; to seek information. [Obs.] "Hearken after their offense." --Shak.

Syn: To attend; listen; hear; heed. See Attend, v. i.

Hearken

Heark"en\, v. t. 1. To hear by listening. [Archaic]

[She] hearkened now and then Some little whispering and soft groaning sound. --Spenser.

2. To give heed to; to hear attentively. [Archaic]

The King of Naples . . . hearkens my brother's suit. --Shak.

To hearken out, to search out. [Obs.]

If you find none, you must hearken out a vein and buy. --B. Johnson.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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hearken 
O.E. heorcnian, from base of hieran (see hear). Harken is the usual spelling in U.S. and probably is better justified by etymology.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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