Word.ws English Dictionary

hearkened

hearkened is the simple past and past participle of hearken.

Meaning of hearken

Verb

hearken (third-person singular simple present hearkens, present participle hearkening, simple past and past participle hearkened)

  1. (transitive, archaic except poetic) To hear (something) with attention; to have regard to (something).
    • Thenceforth ſhe paſt into his dreadfull den, / VVhere nought but darkeſome drerineſſe ſhe found, / Ne creature ſaw, but hearkned now and then / Some little whiſpering, and ſoft groaning ſound.1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 33, page 103
  2. (intransitive) To listen; to attend or give heed to what is uttered; to hear with attention, compliance, or obedience.
    • Who ſo hearkeneth vnto me, ſhal not come to confuſion, & they that worke by me, ſhal not offende; [they that make me to be knowen, ſhal haue euerlaſting life.]1560, [William Whittingham et al., transl.], The Bible and Holy Scriptures Conteyned in the Olde and Newe Testament. […] (the Geneva Bible), Geneva: […] Rouland Hall, →OCLC, Ecclesiasticus XXIIII:25...
  3. (intransitive, obsolete) To enquire; to seek information.
    • Claudio. Hearken after their offence my Lord. / Prince. Officers, what offence haue theſe men done?1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, Much Adoe about Nothing. […], quarto edition, London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] for Andrew Wise, and William Aspley, published 1600, →OCLC, [Act V...

Phrases with hearkened

Questions about hearkened

What is hearkened the simple past and past participle of?
Hearkened is the simple past and past participle of hearken.

Words near hearkened in the dictionary

  1. heark
  2. hearked
  3. hearkee
  4. hearken
  5. hearken back
  6. hearkened
  7. hearkened back
  8. hearkenedst
  9. hearkener
  10. hearkeners
  11. hearkenest

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: hearkened (page history and authors); hearken (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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