hark

English

Alternative forms

• heark (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English herken, herkien, from Old English *hercian, *heorcian, *hiercian, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *hauzijaną (“to hear”) + formative/intensive -k (see also the related hīeran, whence English hear). 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/
• Rhymes: -ɑː(r)k

Verb

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

1. To listen attentively; often used in the imperative.
   • 1596-99?, William Shakespeare,The Merchant of Venice:

     But, hark, I hear the footing of a man.

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

     Hark! the herald angels sing

     “Glory to the new born King,

   • 1906: O. Henry, The Four Million [1]

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

   • 1959: Tom Lehrer, A Christmas Carol

     "Hark! The Herald Tribune sings, / Advertising wondrous things!"

Derived terms

• ark at ee (dialectal)
• hark back

Related terms

• harken/hearken
• hear

Translations

to listen attentively

• Bulgarian: слушам (bg) (slušam)
• Dutch: aanhoren (nl), luisteren (nl)
• Finnish: kuunnella tarkkaavaisesti, kuunnella tarkasti; kuule (used as interjection)
• Norwegian: lyda

• Old English: hwæt (ang)
• Russian: слу́шать (ru) (slúšatʹ), внима́ть (ru) (vnimátʹ)
• Swedish: lyssna noggrant

Noun

hark (plural harks)

1. (Scots) A whisper

---

Albanian

Etymology

From Latin arcus.

Noun

hark m

1. bow
2. arch

---

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɑrk

• audio

  (file)

Etymology 1

Noun

hark m (plural harken, diminutive harkje n)

1. rake (garden tool)

Derived terms

• harken

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

hark

1. first-person singular present indicative of harken
2. imperative of harken

---

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /har̥k/
• Rhymes: -ar̥k

Noun

hark n (genitive singular harks, no plural)

1. noise, tumult, commotion, din

Declension

declension of hark

n-s	singular
	indefinite	definite
nominative	hark	harkið
accusative	hark	harkið
dative	harki	harkinu
genitive	harks	harksins

Synonyms

• (noise, commotion): hávaði, háreysti, skark, skarkali

---

Westrobothnian

Etymology

From Old Norse harka, harðka (“strength of body and mind”), from harðr (“hard”) ( > Westrobothnian hahl) + -ka.

Noun

hark f (definite harka)

1. excellence

   hä var harka dell kar

   that's an excellent man

Alternative forms

• halk

Related terms

• harkøt
• hörk