listen
pronunciation
How to pronounce listen in British English:
UK [ˈlɪsn]
How to pronounce listen in American English:
US [ˈlɪsn]
-
- Verb:
- hear with intention
- listen and pay attention
- pay close attention to; give heed to
Word Origin
- listen
- listen: [OE] The Indo-European base *kludenoted ‘hearing’ (it is the ultimate source of English loud). From its extended form *kluswere derived in prehistoric Germanic the noun *khlustiz ‘hearing’, which eventually produced the now archaic English verb list ‘listen’, and the verb *khlusnōjan ‘hear’, which became English listen.=> loud
- listen (v.)
- Old English hlysnan "to listen," from Proto-Germanic *khlusinon (cognates: Dutch luisteren, Old High German hlosen "to listen," German lauschen "to listen"), from PIE root *kleu- "hearing, to hear" (cognates: Sanskrit srnoti "hears," srosati "hears, obeys;" Avestan sraothra "ear;" Middle Persian srod "hearing, sound;" Lithuanian klausau "to hear," slove "splendor, honor;" Old Church Slavonic slusati "to hear," slava "fame, glory," slovo "word;" Greek klyo "hear, be called," kleos "report, rumor, fame glory," kleio "make famous;" Latin cluere "to hear oneself called, be spoken of;" Old Irish ro-clui-nethar "hears," clunim "I hear," clu "fame, glory," cluada "ears;" Welsh clywaf "I hear;" Old English hlud "loud," hleoðor "tone, tune;" Old High German hlut "sound;" Gothic hiluþ "listening, attention"). The -t- probably is by influence of Old English hlystan (see list (v.2)). For vowel evolution, see bury. As a noun from 1788 (on the listen "alert").
Example
- 1. Some will listen and be sensitive to your feelings .
- 2. Listen and put the things in the right bags .
- 3. Listen to them and help them .
- 4. Now the question is whether governments will listen to her .
- 5. Do you usually listen to music during races ?