listen

Alternative forms

• lisen (obsolete)
• lis'en (eye dialect, rare)
• lissen (eye dialect, rare)

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 *hlusnijaną, *hlusnōną (compare Middle High German lüsenen), from Proto-Germanic *hlusēną (compare Old High German hlosēn), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱlew- (“to hear”).

Cognate with Swedish lyssna (“to listen”).

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, “an exclamation used in making an offering with fire to the gods or departed spirits”) & Sanskrit श्लोक्य (ślókya, “voice, sound, noisy”)).

Related to loud and German lauschen.

Pronunciation

• enPR: lĭs'ən, lĭs'n, IPA^(key): /ˈlɪs.ən/, [ˈlɪs.n̩]

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: lis‧ten
• Rhymes: -ɪsən

Verb

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.

   I could hear you talking upstairs, but I didn’t really listen to your conversation.

   • 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.

   • 1912 January, Zane Grey, chapter 4, in Riders of the Purple Sage […], New York, N.Y., London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC:

     He reined Wrangle to a walk, halted now and then to listen, and then proceeded cautiously with shifting and alert gaze.

   • 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)

     • 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.'

     • 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.

     • 2007, KT Tunstall, “Saving My Face”, in Drastic Fantastic‎:

       I'm listening to what you say / Even though I look the other way / But you could never understand / The feeling of what I'm needing

     [with for]

     You should listen for the starting gun.

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 […].

Noun

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:

     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.

See also

• hear

Anagrams

• ELINTs, SILENT, Teslin, enlist, inlets, leints, lets in, silent, tinsel

Etymology

From list +‎ -en.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlɪstɛn]

Noun

listen m inan

1. (botany) bract

Further reading

• “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), 2008–2025

Noun

listen c

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

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

listen

1. plural of list

Anagrams

• instel, sintel, stel in

Etymology

From Liste +‎ -en.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlɪstn̩]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: lis‧ten
• Homophone: Listen

Verb

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

1. to list

   Synonym: auflisten

Further reading

• “listen (eintragen, vorrätig haben)” in Duden online
• “listen (schmuggeln, tricksen)” in Duden online
• “listen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “listen” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “listen” in OpenThesaurus.de

Alternative forms

• lista

Noun

listen m or f

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

Verb

listen

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

Noun

listen

1. definite singular of list

Anagrams

• linets, litens, sliten, stilen