listen

English Online Dictionary. What means listen‎? What does listen mean?

English

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]
• 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

   • (transitive, archaic)

     [with to]

     I like to listen to music.

     [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.

Usage notes

• In English, listen and hear are two primary verbs relating to audial perception. To hear most commonly 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

• See also Thesaurus:listen

Coordinate terms

• speak
• talk

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

listen (plural listens)

1. An instance of listening.

   Synonym: (of recorded audio) play

Derived terms

See also

• hear

Anagrams

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

Czech

Etymology

From list +‎ -en.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlɪstɛn]

Noun

listen m inan

1. (botany) bract

Declension

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

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

Danish

Noun

listen c

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

Dutch

Pronunciation

Noun

listen

1. plural of list

Anagrams

• instel, sintel, stel in

German

Etymology

From Liste +‎ -en.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlɪstn̩]
• 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

Conjugation

Derived terms

• auflisten

Related terms

• Liste f

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

Norwegian Bokmål

Alternative forms

• lista

Noun

listen m or f

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

Spanish

Verb

listen

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

Swedish

Noun

listen

1. definite singular of list

Anagrams

• linets, litens, sliten, stilen