listen.
To use one's sense of hearing and auditory cognition in an intentional way; to make deliberate use of one's ears; to pay attention to or wait for a specific sound.
Meaning & usage
To use one's sense of hearing and auditory cognition in an intentional way; to make deliberate use of one's ears; to pay attention to or wait for a specific sound.
Please listen carefully as I explain.
I could hear you talking upstairs, but I didn’t really listen to your conversation.
To accept advice or obey instruction; to agree or assent.
Listen, the only reason I yelled at you was because I was upset, OK?
Good children listen to their parents.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱlew-der. Proto-Germanic *hlusnijaną Old English hlysnan Middle English listenen English listen 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, “to make known, famous”), Welsh clywed (“to hear”), Latin clueō (“to be 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.
An instance of listening.
Give the motor a listen and tell me if it sounds off.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱlew-der. Proto-Germanic *hlusnijaną Old English hlysnan Middle English listenen English listen 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, “to make known, famous”), Welsh clywed (“to hear”), Latin clueō (“to be 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.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.