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 ” ) (compare Ancient Greek κλαίω ( klaíō , “ I make known, famous ” ) , Welsh clywed ( “ to hear ” ) , Latin clueō ( “ I am famous ” ) , Lithuanian klausýti , Old Church Slavonic слушати ( slušati , “ to hear ” ) , Sanskrit श्रोषति ( śróṣati ) . Related to loud and German lauschen .
enPR : lĭs'ən , lĭs'n , IPA (key ) : /ˈlɪs.ən/ , [ˈlɪs.n̩]
Hyphenation: lis‧ten
Rhymes: -ɪsən
listen (third-person singular simple present listens , present participle listening , simple past and past participle listened )
( intransitive except in archaic usage) To use one's sense of hearing in an intentional way; to make deliberate use of one's ears ; to pay attention to or wait for a specific sound.
Synonyms: heed , mind , note , pay attention , attend
Antonym: ignore
Please listen carefully as I explain.
1906 , Stanley J[ohn] Weyman , chapter I, in Chippinge Borough , New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., →OCLC , page 01 :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.
1921 , Ben Travers , chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest , Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company , published 1925 , →OCLC :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 )
1591 (date written), William Shakespeare , “The First Part of Henry the Sixt ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies [ … ] (First Folio ), London: [ … ] Isaac Iaggard , and Ed[ ward] Blount , published 1623 , →OCLC , [ Act V, scene iii] :Lady, vouchsafe to listen what I say.
a. 1749 (date written), James Thomson , “Summer”, in The Seasons , London: [ … ] A[ ndrew] Millar , and sold by Thomas Cadell , [ … ] , published 1768 , →OCLC :Here laid his Scrip, with wholesome Viands fill'd, / There, listening every Noise, his watchful Dog.
[with to ]
I like to listen to music.
[with for ]
You should listen for the starting gun.
( intransitive ) To accept advice or obey instruction; to agree or assent .
Synonym: mind
Antonym: disregard
Listen , the only reason I yelled at you was because I was upset, OK?
Good children listen to their parents.
1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm [ … ] , London: Secker & Warburg , published May 1962 , →OCLC :Never listen when they tell you that Man and the animals have a common interest [ …] .
In English, listen and hear are two primary verbs relating to audial perception. To hear represents automatic , unconscious , or passive perception of sound, while listen generally represents intentional , conscious , or purposeful use of the sense of hearing. The difference is expressed in the following quotation:
As the silence took hold in the darkness, Sam realized that she had been hearing , though not listening to, various low-level sounds—the hum of air conditioning and life support, the pulse of some faraway oxygen pump, the faint buzz of the electrical and lighting systems. —Justin Richards (1999) Demontage , chapter 5, page 92.
A similar distinction exists between see and watch in English.
to pay attention to a sound
Afrikaans: luister (af)
Albanian: dëgjoj (sq) , ndëgjoj
Amharic: ማዳመጥ ( madamäṭ )
Arabic: أَصْغَى ( ʔaṣḡā ) , أَنْصَتَ ( ʔanṣata ) , اِسْتَمَعَ (ar) ( istamaʕa ) , سَمِعَ (ar) ( samiʕa )
Egyptian Arabic: سمع ( simiʕ )
Moroccan Arabic: سمع (ar) ( smaʕ )
South Levantine Arabic: سمع ( simiʕ )
Aragonese: ascuitar (an)
Armenian: լսել (hy) ( lsel )
Aromanian: ascultu
Assamese: শুনা ( xuna )
Asturian: escuchar (ast)
Azerbaijani: dinləmək (az) , qulaq asmaq
Bashkir: тыңлау ( tıñlaw ) , ( Eastern ) тыңдау ( tıñdaw )
Basque: entzun , aditu
Belarusian: слу́хаць impf ( slúxacʹ ) , паслу́хаць pf ( paslúxacʹ )
Bengali: শোনা (bn) ( śōna )
Bikol Central: himati (bcl)
Breton: selaou (br)
Bulgarian: слу́шам (bg) impf ( slúšam )
Burmese: နားထောင် (my) ( na:htaung )
Catalan: escoltar (ca)
Cebuano: dungog (pagdungog ), mamati (pagpamati ), paminaw (pagpaminaw )
Cherokee: ᎠᏛᏓᏍᏗᎭ ( advdasdiha )
Chickasaw: haklo
Chinese:
Cantonese: 聽 / 听 ( teng1 , ting1 )
Dungan: тин ( tin )
Mandarin: 聽 / 听 (zh) ( tīng )
Chuvash: итле ( itle )
Cimbrian: lusan
Czech: poslouchat (cs) impf , poslechnout (cs) pf
Danish: lytte
Dutch: luisteren (nl)
Esperanto: aŭskulti
Estonian: kuulama , tähele panema
Evenki: до̄лды̄мӣ ( dōldīmī ) , до̄лды̄н ( dōldīn )
Faroese: lurta
Finnish: kuunnella (fi)
Franco-Provençal: acutar
French: écouter (fr)
Friulian: scoltâ
Galician: atender (gl) , escoitar (gl) , oír (gl)
Gallurese: iscultà
Georgian: მოსმენა ( mosmena ) , სმენა ( smena ) , გაგონება ( gagoneba )
German: hören (de) , zuhören (de)
Alemannic German: zuelose
Gothic: 𐌷𐌰𐌿𐍃𐌾𐌰𐌽 ( hausjan )
Greek: ακούω (el) ( akoúo )
Ancient: ἀκροάομαι ( akroáomai ) , ἀκούω ( akoúō )
Hadza: exekeke
Haitian Creole: koute
Hawaiian: hoʻolohe
Hebrew: הִקְשִׁיב (he) ( hikshív ) , הֶאֱזִין (he) ( he'ezín )
Hiligaynon: pamati (magpamati , mamati , pamatian )
Hindi: सुनना (hi) ( sunnā )
Hungarian: hallgat (hu) , figyel (hu)
Icelandic: hlusta (is) (á (is) )
Ido: askoltar (io)
Indonesian: dengarkan (id)
Interlingua: ascoltar
Irish: éist
Istriot: scoltà
Italian: ascoltare (it)
Japanese: 聞く (ja) ( きく, kiku )
Kabuverdianu: obi , uví
Kabyle: ssefled
Kannada: ಆಲಿಸು (kn) ( ālisu )
Kashmiri: بوزُن ( bōzun )
Kashubian: czëc
Kazakh: тыңдау (kk) ( tyñdau ) , есту (kk) ( estu )
Khmer: ស្ដាប់ (km) ( sdap )
Kongo: kuwa
Korean: 듣다 (ko) ( deutda )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: گوێ دان ( gwê dan )
Northern Kurdish: guhdarî kirin (ku) , guh dan (ku)
Kyrgyz: угуу (ky) ( uguu ) , тыңшоо ( tıŋşoo ) , тыңдоо ( tıŋdoo )
Ladin: scuter
Lao: ຟັງ ( fang )
Latgalian: klauseitīs
Latin: auscultō , audiō (la) , exaudio
Latvian: klausīties (lv)
Limburgish: loestere (li) (nao /loc.)
Lithuanian: klausyti (lt)
Livonian: kūldõ
Lombard: ascoltà
Lü: please add this translation if you can
Macedonian: слуша impf ( sluša )
Malay: dengar (ms)
Malayalam: കേൾക്കുക (ml) ( kēḷkkuka )
Maltese: issamma
Manchu: ᡩᠣᠨᠵᡳᠮᠪᡳ ( donjimbi )
Maori: whakaoko , whakarongo , whakataringa
Marathi: ऐकणे ( aikṇe )
Middle English: listnen
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: чагнах (mn) ( čagnax ) , сонсох (mn) ( sonsox )
Nahuatl: caqui (nah)
Nanai: до̄лди- ( dōlʒi- )
Neapolitan: sentì , ntennere
Norman: êcouter
Northern Ohlone: taahe
Northern Thai: please add this translation if you can
Norwegian:
Bokmål: lytte (no)
Occitan: escotar (oc)
Odia: ଶୁଣିବା (or) ( śuṇibā )
Ojibwe: babaamendam
Old Church Slavonic:
Cyrillic: слушати impf ( slušati )
Old East Slavic: слꙋшати impf ( slušati )
Old English: hlystan , ġehīeran
Old French: escouter , esculter
Old Turkic: 𐱃𐰃𐰭𐰞𐰀 ( tïŋla- )
Oroqen: dɔ꞉ldi-
Ottoman Turkish: دیكلهمك ( diŋlemek )
Papiamentu: skucha
Pashto: غوږ نيول ( ğwag niwəl )
Pennsylvania German: hariche
Persian: نِیوشیدَن (fa) ( niyušidan ) , گوش دادَن (fa) ( guš dâdan ) , گوش کَرْدَن (fa) ( guš kardan ) , استماع کردن , گوشیدن (fa) ( gušidan )
Phuthi: mamela
Polish: słuchać (pl) impf
Portuguese: escutar (pt)
Quechua: uyariy
Romanian: asculta (ro)
Romansch: tadlar , audi , tedlar , tarlar , tadler
Russian: слу́шать (ru) impf ( slúšatʹ ) , послу́шать (ru) pf ( poslúšatʹ )
Sanskrit: शृणोति (sa) ( śṛṇoti )
Sardinian: aiscultare , aiscurtare , ascultare
Campidanese: ascurtai
Logudorese: ascurtare , iscultare , iscurtare
Sassarese: iscultà
Scottish Gaelic: èisd , èist
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: слу̏шати impf , по̀слушати pf
Roman: slȕšati (sh) impf , pòslušati (sh) pf
Shan: please add this translation if you can
Sicilian: ascutari (scn)
Sinhalese: ඇහුම්කන් දෙනවා ( æhumkan denawā ) , අහනවා ( ahanawā )
Slovak: počúvať impf , poslúchnuť pf
Slovene: poslušati (sl) impf
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: słuchaś impf
Upper Sorbian: słušeć impf , роsłuсhаć pf
Sotho: mamela (st)
Spanish: escuchar (es)
Swahili: kusikiza (sw) , kusikiliza
Swedish: lyssna (sv)
Sylheti: ꠢꠥꠘꠣ ( huna )
Tagalog: dinig (tl) (dinggin ), kinig (pakinggan ), makinig
Tajik: гӯш додан ( güš dodan ) , гӯш кардан (tg) ( güš kardan )
Tamil: கேள் (ta) ( kēḷ )
Tatar: тыңларга ( tıñlarga )
Telugu: ఆలకించు (te) ( ālakiñcu ) , వినుట (te) ( vinuṭa )
Thai: ฟัง (th) ( fang )
Tibetan: གསོན་པ ( gson pa )
Tok Pisin: harim
Tongan: fanongo
Turkish: dinlemek (tr)
Turkmen: diňlemek
Ugaritic: 𐎌𐎎𐎓 ( šmʿ )
Ukrainian: слу́хати (uk) impf ( slúxaty )
Urdu: سُنْنا ( sunnā )
Uzbek: tinglamoq (uz) , eshitmoq (uz)
Venetan: scoltar (vec)
Vietnamese: nghe (vi) , lắng nghe (vi)
Welsh: gwrando (cy)
West Frisian: harkje
Xhosa: mamela
Yiddish: הערן ( hern ) , צוהערן ( tsuhern )
Zhuang: dingh , nyi
Zulu: lalela
to expect or wait for a sound
Afrikaans: luister (af)
Albanian: dëgjo , prit
Arabic: أَنْصَتَ ( ʔanṣata )
Armenian: ականջ դնել (hy) ( akanǰ dnel )
Asturian: escuchar (ast)
Basque: entzun
Bikol Central: (please verify ) dengogen
Bulgarian: ослу́швам се ( oslúšvam se ) , вслу́швам се ( vslúšvam se )
Catalan: escoltar (ca)
Cebuano: (paminawa )
Czech: naslouchat (cs)
Danish: lytte , høre efter
Dutch: luisteren (nl) , opletten (nl)
Estonian: kuulama , kuulatama
Faroese: lurta
Finnish: kuunnella (fi)
French: tendre l’oreille (fr) , guetter (fr)
Galician: escoitar (gl)
Georgian: მოსმენა ( mosmena )
German: lauschen (de)
Hiligaynon: pamati (magpamati , mamati , pamatian )
Hindi: सुनना (hi) ( sunnā )
Ibanag: maginna
Icelandic: hlusta (is) (eftir (is) )
Ilocano: agdengngeg , denggen , dumngeg
Italian: stare in ascolto per , sentire (it)
Ivatan: adngeyen
Japanese: 聞く (ja) ( きく, kiku )
Kabuverdianu: obi , uví
Kabyle: ssefled
Kapampangan: makiramdam
Korean: 듣다 (ko) ( deutda )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: گوێ دان ( gwê dan )
Northern Kurdish: guhdarî kirin (ku) , guh dan (ku)
Latgalian: klauseitīs
Latin: ausculto , exaudio
Latvian: klausīties (lv)
Limburgish: loestere (li) (nao /loc.), óplètte
Lithuanian: klausyti (lt)
Lower Sorbian: słuchaś
Maguindanao: pakinig
Malay: pasang telinga
Maranao: makineg , pimakinog
Marathi: ऐकणे ( aikṇe )
Norwegian:
Bokmål: lytte (no)
Occitan: escotar (oc)
Odia: please add this translation if you can
Ojibwe: nandotan
Old English: hlosnian
Pangasinan: odengel , pakanggel
Pashto: غوږ نيول ( ğwag niwəl )
Polish: nasłuchiwać
Portuguese: escutar (pt)
Romanian: asculta (ro)
Russian: слу́шать (ru) impf ( slúšatʹ )
Scottish Gaelic: èisd
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: слу̏шати impf , по̀слушати pf
Roman: slȕšati (sh) impf , pòslušati (sh) pf
Slovak: načúvať
Sotho: mamela (st)
Spanish: escuchar (es)
Swahili: sikiza (sw)
Swedish: lyssna (sv)
Tagalog: dinig (tl) (dinggin ), kinig (pakinggan )
Tamil: மெதுவா கேள் ( metuvā kēḷ )
Tausug: dumongog
Telugu: ఆలకించు (te) ( ālakiñcu )
Thai: ฟัง (th) ( fang )
Tongan: fanongo
Turkish: dinlemek (tr)
Ukrainian: слу́хати (uk) impf ( slúxaty )
Urdu: سُنْنا ( sunnā )
Vietnamese: chờ đợi (vi) , chờ (vi) , đợi cho
Yiddish: הערן ( hern )
to accept advice or obey instruction
Afrikaans: luister (af)
Albanian: dëgjoj (sq)
Arabic: أَطَاعَ ( ʔaṭāʕa )
Armenian: լսել (hy) ( lsel ) , ենթարկվել (hy) ( entʻarkvel )
Asturian: escuchar (ast)
Basque: aditu , kasu egin , jaramon egin
Bulgarian: отстъ́пвам (bg) ( otstǎ́pvam )
Catalan: escoltar (ca)
Cebuano: patalinghugi
Chickasaw: ihaklo
Czech: poslouchat (cs)
Danish: høre efter
Dutch: gehoorzamen (nl) , luisteren (nl)
Estonian: kuulama
Faroese: lurta eftir
Finnish: kuunnella (fi) , uskoa (fi)
French: écouter (fr)
Galician: atender (gl) , oír (gl)
Gallurese: iscultà
German: hören (de)
Greek: ακούω (el) ( akoúo )
Ancient: ἀκούω ( akoúō ) , εἰσακούω ( eisakoúō )
Hawaiian: lohe
Hebrew: הקשיב (he) ( hikshív ) , האזין (he) ( he'ezín )
Hiligaynon: pamati
Hindi: सुनना (hi) ( sunnā )
Hungarian: hallgat (hu)
Icelandic: hlusta (is) (á (is) )
Indonesian: mendengarkan (id)
Italian: dare (it) ascolto (it) , dar retta
Japanese: 聞く (ja) ( きく, kiku )
Kabuverdianu: obi , uví
Kabyle: ssefled
Khmer: ស្ដាប់ (km) ( sdap )
Korean: 듣다 (ko) ( deutda ) , 들어주다 (ko) ( deureojuda )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: گوێ گرتن ( gwê girtin )
Northern Kurdish: guhdarî kirin (ku) , guh dan (ku)
Latgalian: klauseit
Latin: auscultō , audiō (la)
Latvian: klausīt
Limburgish: loestere (li) (nao /loc.)
Lithuanian: klausyti (lt)
Lower Sorbian: słuchaś
Malay: dengar (ms)
Marathi: ऐकणे ( aikṇe )
Neapolitan: rà n’arecchia a
Norman: êcouter
Norwegian:
Bokmål: lystre (no)
Occitan: escotar (oc)
Odia: please add this translation if you can
Ojibwe: babaamitam
Old English: ġehīeran , ġehīersumian
Ottoman Turkish: دیكلهمك ( diŋlemek )
Pashto: غوږ نيول ( ğwag niwəl )
Polish: usłuchać , słuchać (pl)
Portuguese: ouvir (pt)
Romanian: asculta (ro)
Russian: слу́шать (ru) ( slúšatʹ ) , слу́шаться (ru) ( slúšatʹsja )
Sardinian:
Campidanese: ascurtai
Logudorese: ascurtare , iscultare , iscurtare
Sassarese: iscultà
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: слу̏шати impf , по̀слушати pf
Roman: slȕšati (sh) impf , pòslušati (sh) pf
Slovak: poslúchať
Slovene: ubogati (sl) , poslušati (sl)
Sotho: mamela (st)
Spanish: escuchar (es) , atenerse (es)
Swahili: sikiza (sw)
Swedish: lyda (sv)
Tagalog: dinig (tl) (dinggin ), kinig (pakinggan , makinig )
Tamil: கேள் (ta) ( kēḷ )
Telugu: సమ్మతించు (te) ( sammatiñcu )
Thai: ฟัง (th) ( fang )
Tibetan: ཉན ( nyan )
Turkish: dinlemek (tr)
Ukrainian: слу́хати (uk) impf ( slúxaty ) , послу́хати pf ( poslúxaty ) , слу́хатися impf ( slúxatysja ) reflexive , послу́хатися pf ( poslúxatysja )
Urdu: سُنْنا ( sunnā )
Vietnamese: nghe theo , tuân theo (vi) , vâng lời (vi)
to hear (something)
Afrikaans: hoor (af)
Albanian: dëgjoj (sq)
Ancient Greek: ἀκούω ( akoúō )
Arabic: سَمِعَ (ar) ( samiʕa )
Egyptian Arabic: سمع ( semeʕ )
Armenian: լսել (hy) ( lsel )
Basque: entzun , aditu
Bulgarian: чу́вам (bg) impf ( čúvam ) , слу́шам (bg) impf ( slúšam )
Cebuano: patalinghugi
Chickasaw: haklo
Chinese:
Mandarin: 聽 / 听 (zh) ( tīng )
Czech: slyšet (cs) impf
Dutch: horen (nl)
Egyptian: (sḏm )
Esperanto: aŭskulti
Estonian: kuulma (et)
Faroese: hoyra (fo)
Finnish: kuulla (fi)
French: écouter (fr)
Galician: oír (gl)
German: hören (de)
Greek: ακούω (el) ( akoúo )
Hawaiian: lohe
Hebrew: שמע (he) ( shama )
Hiligaynon: pamati
Hindi: सुनना (hi) ( sunnā ) , कान लगाना ( kān lagānā )
Hungarian: hallgat (hu)
Icelandic: hlusta (is) , heyra (is)
Irish: éist
Isan: please add this translation if you can
Italian: sentire (it)
Japanese: 聞く (ja) ( きく, kiku )
Kabuverdianu: obi , uví
Kabyle: ssefled
Khmer: ឮ (km) ( lɨɨ ) , ស្ដាប់ឮ ( sdap-lɨɨ )
Korean: 들리다 (ko) ( deullida )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: گوێ لێبون ( gwê lêbun )
Northern Kurdish: guh lê bûn (ku)
Lao: please add this translation if you can
Latgalian: dzierdēt
Latin: exaudiō , audio (la) , ausculto
Latvian: dzirdēt (lv)
Limburgish: loestere (li) , heure (li) , huuere (li)
Lithuanian: girdėti (lt)
Lü: please add this translation if you can
Malay: dengar (ms)
Marathi: ऐकणे ( aikṇe )
Neapolitan: sentì
Northern Thai: please add this translation if you can
Norwegian:
Bokmål: høre (no)
Nynorsk: høyra
Ojibwe: bizindaw
Pashto: اورول ( awrawəl )
Persian: شِنیدَن (fa) ( šenidan ) , شُنیدَن (fa) ( šonidan )
Polish: wysłuchać (pl) , słuchać (pl)
Portuguese: escutar (pt) , ouvir (pt)
Romanian: asculta (ro)
Russian: слы́шать (ru) impf ( slýšatʹ ) , услы́шать (ru) pf ( uslýšatʹ )
Scottish Gaelic: cluinn
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: чу̏ти impf
Roman: čȕti (sh) impf
Shan: please add this translation if you can
Slovak: počuť pf , slyšať impf
Slovene: slišati (sl)
Sotho: utlwa (st)
Spanish: oír (es)
Swahili: sikiza (sw)
Swedish: lyssna (sv)
Tagalog: dinig (tl) (dinggin ), rinig (narinig )
Tamil: கேள் (ta) ( kēḷ )
Telugu: విను (te) ( vinu )
Thai: ยิน (th) ( yin )
Tocharian B: klyaus-
Tok Pisin: harim
Tongan: fanongo
Turkish: duymak (tr)
Ukrainian: чу́ти (uk) pf ( čúty )
Urdu: سُنْنا ( sunnā ) , کان لَگانا ( kān lagānā )
Vietnamese: nghe (vi) , để ý đến
Zhuang: please add this translation if you can
listen (plural listens )
An instance of listening.
Synonym: ( of recorded audio ) play
Give the motor a listen and tell me if it sounds off.
2016 March 29, Victor Luckerson, “There's a New Way To Listen To All the Remixes You Want”, in Time [2] :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.
2020 , Emily Segal , Mercury Retrograde , New York: Deluge Books, →ISBN :I hadn't spoken to her in a year, but she could still see my listens on the music platform we both used.
From list + -en .
listen m inan
( botany ) bract
This noun needs an inflection-table template .
“listen ”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
“listen ”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
“listen ”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech)
listen c
definite singular of liste
definite singular of list
listen
plural of list
From Liste + -en .
listen (weak , third-person singular present listet , past tense listete , past participle gelistet , auxiliary haben )
to list
Synonym: auflisten
Conjugation of
listen (
weak , auxiliary
haben )
1 Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.
Composed forms of
listen (
weak , auxiliary
haben )
listen m or f
definite masculine singular of liste
definite masculine singular of list
listen
inflection of listar :
third-person plural present subjunctive
third-person plural imperative
listen
definite singular of list