hear

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English [edit]

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Etymology [edit]

From Middle English heren, from Old English hēran, hīeran, hȳran (“to hear”), from Proto-Germanic *hauzijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ḱh₂owsyé-. Compare West Frisian hearre, Dutch horen, German hören, Danish høre, Icelandic heyra.

Pronunciation [edit]

Verb [edit]

hear (third-person singular simple present hears, present participle hearing, simple past and past participle heard)

  1. (intransitive) To have the faculty of being able to perceive sounds, through the ear. [from 10th c.]
    I was deaf, and now I can hear.
  2. (transitive) To perceive (a sound, or something producing a sound) with the ear, to recognize (something) in an auditory way. [from 10th c.]
    I heard a sound from outside the window.
  3. (transitive) To excercise this faculty intentionally; to listen to. [from 10th c.]
    • 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, John X:
      Agayne there was dissencion amonge the iewes for these sayinges, and many of them sayd: He hath the devyll, and is madde: why heare ye hym?
  4. (transitive) To listen favourably to; to grant (a request etc.). [from 10th c.]
    Eventually the king chose to hear her entreaties.
  5. (transitive) To receive information about; to come to learn of. [from 10th c.]
    • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost:
      Adam, soon as he heard / The fatal Trespass don by Eve, amaz'd, / Astonied stood and Blank [...].
  6. (transitive) To listen to (a person, case) in a court of law; to try. [from 12th c.]
    Your case will be heard at the end of the month.

Derived terms [edit]

Translations [edit]

to perceive with the ear

See also [edit]

References [edit]

Statistics [edit]

Anagrams [edit]

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