listen

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also: Listen

English

[edit]
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Alternative forms

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

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.

Pronunciation

[edit]

Verb

[edit]

listen (third-person singular simple present listens, present participle listening, simple past and past participle listened)

  1. (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.
  2. (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 [].

Usage notes

[edit]
  • 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.

Quotations

[edit]

Synonyms

[edit]

Coordinate terms

[edit]

Derived terms

[edit]
[edit]

Translations

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

listen (plural listens)

  1. 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.

Derived terms

[edit]

See also

[edit]

Anagrams

[edit]

Czech

[edit]
Czech Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia cs

Etymology

[edit]

From list +‎ -en.

Pronunciation

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

listen m inan

  1. (botany) bract

Declension

[edit]

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Further reading

[edit]
  • 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)

Danish

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

listen c

  1. definite singular of liste
  2. definite singular of list

Dutch

[edit]

Pronunciation

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

listen

  1. plural of list

Anagrams

[edit]

German

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

From Liste +‎ -en.

Pronunciation

[edit]

Verb

[edit]

listen (weak, third-person singular present listet, past tense listete, past participle gelistet, auxiliary haben)

  1. to list
    Synonym: auflisten

Conjugation

[edit]

Derived terms

[edit]
[edit]

Further reading

[edit]

Norwegian Bokmål

[edit]

Alternative forms

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

listen m or f

  1. definite masculine singular of liste
  2. definite masculine singular of list

Spanish

[edit]

Verb

[edit]

listen

  1. inflection of listar:
    1. third-person plural present subjunctive
    2. third-person plural imperative

Swedish

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

listen

  1. definite singular of list

Anagrams

[edit]