different between listen vs heare
listen
English
Alternative forms
- lisen (obsolete)
- lis'en (informal)
- lissen (informal)
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 *hlusnijan?, *hlusn?n? (compare Middle High German lüsenen), from Proto-Germanic *hlus?n? (compare Old High German hlos?n), from Proto-Indo-European *?lew- (“to hear”) (compare Ancient Greek ????? (klaí?, “I make known, famous”), Welsh clywed (“to hear”), Latin clue? (“I am famous”), Lithuanian klausýti, Old Church Slavonic ??????? (slušati, “to hear”), Sanskrit ??????? (?ró?ati). Related to loud and German lauschen.
Pronunciation
- enPR: l?s'?n, l?s'n, IPA(key): /?l?s.?n/, [?l?s.n?]
- Rhymes: -?s?n
- Hyphenation: lis?ten
Verb
listen (third-person singular simple present listens, present participle listening, simple past and past participle listened)
- (intransitive) To pay attention to a sound or speech.
- (intransitive) To expect or wait for a sound, such as a signal.
- 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.
- (intransitive) To accept advice or obey instruction; to agree or assent.
- Never listen when they tell you that Man and the animals have a common interest […].
- (transitive, archaic) To hear (something or someone), to pay attention to.
- 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XX:
- ‘But, sir, lyars ye have lystened, and that hath caused grete debate betwyxte you and me.’
- 1592, William Shakespeare, 1 Hen VI: v 3
- Lady, vouchsafe to listen what I say.
- 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XX:
Usage notes
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
- For quotations using this term, see Citations:listen.
Synonyms
- (to pay attention): attend, behear, give ear, hark, hear, heed, list, mind, note, pay attention
- (to expect or wait for a sound): await, anticipate, expect, wait for
- (to accept advice or instruction): agree, assent, hearken, mind, obey
- (to hear): hear, mind, heed
- See also Thesaurus:listen
Antonyms
- (to pay attention): ignore
- (to accept advice or instruction): disobey, disregard
Coordinate terms
- speak
- talk
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
Noun
listen (plural listens)
- An instance of listening.
- Synonym: (of recorded audio) play
See also
- hear
Anagrams
- ELINTs, SILENT, Teslin, enlist, inlets, leints, silent, tinsel
Czech
Etymology
list +? -en
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [?l?st?n]
Noun
listen m inan
- (botany) bract
Further reading
- listen in P?íru?ní slovník jazyka ?eského, 1935–1957
- listen in Slovník spisovného jazyka ?eského, 1960–1971, 1989
Danish
Noun
listen c
- definite singular of liste
- definite singular of list
Dutch
Pronunciation
Noun
listen
- Plural form of list
Anagrams
- instel, sintel, stel in
German
Etymology
From Liste +? -en.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [?l?stn?]
- Hyphenation: lis?ten
- Homophone: Listen
Verb
listen (weak, third-person singular present listet, past tense listete, past participle gelistet, auxiliary haben)
- to list
Conjugation
Synonyms
- auflisten
Derived terms
- auflisten
Related terms
- Liste f
Norwegian Bokmål
Alternative forms
- lista
Noun
listen m or f
- definite masculine singular of liste
- definite masculine singular of list
Spanish
Verb
listen
- Second-person plural (ustedes) imperative form of listar.
- Second-person plural (ustedes) present subjunctive form of listar.
- Third-person plural (ellos, ellas, also used with ustedes?) present subjunctive form of listar.
Swedish
Noun
listen
- definite singular of list
Anagrams
- linets, litens, sliten, stilen
listen From the web:
- what listening
- what listening means
- what listen app
- what listening to music does to the brain
- what listening mode onkyo
- what listening to podcasts feels like
- what listening mode should i use
- what listening to jazz says about you
heare
English
Verb
heare
- Obsolete spelling of hear
- 1654, Richard Whitlock, Zootomia; Or, Observations on the Present Manners of the English
- How many Masters have some stately Houses had, in the age of a small Cottage, that hath, as it were, lived, and dyed with her old Master, both dropping down together. Such vain Preservatories of us, are our Inheritances, even once removed: but look on it more Removes off, and continuing in thy Name, yet how little doth that concerne Thee (though the first Purchaser, or his Heire) Lazy Posterity, when they heare it so called know it by the Name, but not as thine; […]
- 1654, Richard Whitlock, Zootomia; Or, Observations on the Present Manners of the English
Aromanian
Noun
heare
- Alternative form of heari
Middle English
Etymology 1
Noun
heare
- Alternative form of here (“army”)
Etymology 2
Determiner
heare
- Alternative form of here (“their”)
heare From the web:
- what here
- what heredity
- what heredity is and how it works in mice
- what heresy
- what hereditary means
- what hereby means
- what hereditary
- what hereditary diseases
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