hark

Alternative forms

• heark (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English herken, herkien, from Old English *hercian, *heorcian, *hiercian, from Proto-West Germanic *hauʀikōn, *hauʀukōn, derived ultimately from Proto-Germanic *hauzijaną (“to hear”) + formative/intensive -k (see also the related hīeran, whence English hear). Equivalent to hear +‎ -k. Cognate with Scots herk (“to hark”), North Frisian harke (“to hark”), West Frisian harkje (“to listen”), obsolete Dutch horken (“to hark, listen to”), Middle Low German horken (“to hark”), German horchen (“to hark, harken to”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: härk, IPA^(key): /hɑː(ɹ)k/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)k

Verb

hark (third-person singular simple present harks, present participle harking, simple past and past participle harked)

1. (archaic, often imperative) To listen attentively.
   • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i], page 182:

     But harke, I heare the footing of a man.

   • 1739, Charles Wesley, George Whitefield, “Hymn for Christmas-Day”, in Hymns and Sacred Poems:

     Hark! the herald angels sing / Glory to the new born King

   • 1856, Herman Melville, The Lightning Rod Man:

     "Hark! The thunder becomes less muttering. It is nearing us, and nearing the earth, too. Hark! One crammed crash! All the vibrations made one by nearness. Another flash. Hold."

   • 1906, O. Henry, “Between Rounds”, in The Four Million:

     Loud voices and a renewed uproar were raised in front of the boarding-house […] "'Tis Missis Murphy's voice," said Mrs. McCaskey, harking.

Noun

hark (plural harks)

1. (Scots) A whisper

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *h₂erkʷos (“bow, arrow”).

Noun

hark m

1. bow
2. arch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Navarro-Lapurdian) /hark/ [hark]
• IPA^(key): (Southern) /ark/ [ark]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ark
• Hyphenation: hark

Determiner

hark

1. ergative singular of hura

Pronoun

hark

1. ergative singular of hura

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɑrk

• Audio:

  (file)

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch harke, of uncertain origin, but probably imitative of scratching or raking, similar to Icelandic hark (“noise, tumult”) and Swedish harkla (“to clear the throat”).

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Etymology

From Old Norse hark (“sound”), probably of imitative origin. Compare the cognates listed at Swedish harkla (“to clear the throat”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /har̥k/
• Rhymes: -ar̥k

Noun

hark n (genitive singular harks, no plural)

1. noise, tumult, commotion, din

   Synonyms: hávaði, háreysti, skark, skarkali

Etymology

From Middle English harken, from Old English *hercian.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hɔːk/

Verb

hark

1. to hark
   • 1867, “CASTEALE CUDDE'S LAMENTATION”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 1, page 102:

     Ye nyporès aul, come hark to mee,

     Ye neighbours all, come hark to me,

References

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 102