Meanings
present singular third person hears · participle present hearing · participle past heard · past heard · alternative pronunciation spelling 'ear · alternative obsolete heare
- stativetransitiveTo perceive (a sound, or something producing a sound) with the ear, to recognize (something) in an auditory way.First known use 10th c.
I could hear them quarreling upstairs, but didn’t really listen to their argument.
1 more example
Mr. Cooke at once began a tirade against the residents of Asquith for permitting a sandy and generally disgraceful condition of the roads. So roundly did he vituperate the inn management in particular, and with such a loud flow of words, that I trembled lest he should be heard on the veranda.
1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLCSynonyms: catch
- transitiveTo exercise this faculty intentionally; to listen to.First known use 10th c.
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?
1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, John1 more example
It had been his intention to go to Wimbledon, but as he himself said: “Why be blooming well frizzled when you can hear all the results over the wireless. And results are all that concern me. […]”
1935, George Goodchild, chapter 3, in Death on the Centre Court - transitiveTo listen favourably to; to grant (a request etc.).First known use 10th c.
Eventually the king chose to hear her entreaties.
- transitiveTo receive information about; to come to learn of.First known use 10th c.
Adam, soon as he heard / The fatal Trespass don by Eve, amaz'd, / Astonied stood and Blank […]
1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost - To be contacted by.
I haven't heard from you in a while; how have you been?
3 more examples
When I don't hear from you, My days feel long and lonely.
2009, Elsa T. Aguries, The Pearl Within, →ISBN, page 141They're ten hours overdue. Have you heard from any of them since they left Nineveh?
2012, Art Wiederhold, Charles Sutphen, From the Depths of Evil, →ISBN, page 343She left and I never heard from her again.
2012, James Meredith, A Mission from God: A Memoir and Challenge for America, →ISBN - informaltransitiveTo sympathize with; to understand the feelings or opinion of.
You're tired of all the ads on TV? I hear ya.
- Greektransitivehuman sciencesTo study under.
Charmadas, never actually Head of School but a prominent Academic who had himself heard Carneades, was prepared to teach Plato’s Gorgias […]
2018, “Introduction: The Old Academy to Cicero”, in Harold Tarrant et al., editors, Brill’s Companion to the Reception of Plato in Antiquity, →ISBN, pages 24–252 more examples
SPHÆRUS was of Bosphorus, he first heard Zeno, then Cleanthes, and having made a sufficient progresse in learning, went to Alexandria to Ptolomy Philopater […]
1656, Thomas Stanley, The History of Philosophy. The Eighth Part, Containing the Stoick Philosophers, page 15Ammonius, the teacher of both Simplicius and Philoponus, tells us how Julian gave a ruling […] in favor of Maximus, who had heard Iamblichus, and followed him and Porphyry (in An. Pr. 31,15–22).
1990, Henry J. Blumenthal, “Themistius: the last Peripatetic commentator on Aristotle?”, in Richard Sorabji, editor, Aristotle Transformed: The Ancient Commentators and Their Influence, 2nd edition, published 2016, →ISBN, pages 130–31
alternative pronunciation spelling 'ear · alternative obsolete heare
- you hear me
Y'all come back now, hear?
1995, HAL Laboratory, EarthBound, Nintendo, Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo perceive (a sound, or something producing a sound) with the ear, to recognize (something) in an auditory way.
verbTo listen to (a person, case) in a court of law; to try.
More synonyms by meaning
verbget to know or become aware of, usually accidentally
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂eḱ-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂ew-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂ṓws
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂ḱh₂owsyéti
- Proto-Germanic*hauzijaną
- Proto-West Germanic*hauʀijan
- Old Englishhīeran
- Middle Englishheren
- Englishhear
From Middle English har, heoren, her, here, heren, from Old English hēran, hīeran, hīran, hȳran (“to hear”), from Proto-West Germanic *hauʀijan, from Proto-Germanic *hauzijaną (“to hear”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ḱh₂owsyéti (“to be sharp-eared”), from *h₂eḱ- (“sharp”) + *h₂ows- (“ear”) + *-yéti (denominative suffix). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian hear, hiar, hiir, hiire (“to hear”), Saterland Frisian heere, here (“to hear”), West Frisian hearre (“to hear”), Bavarian hearn (“to hear”), Central Franconian hüre (“to hear”), Cimbrian hòrran, höarn (“to hear”), Dutch horen (“to hear”), German and Low German hören (“to hear”), Luxembourgish héieren (“to hear”), Yiddish הערן (hern, “to hear”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål høre (“to hear”), Elfdalian ära (“to hear”), Faroese hoyra (“to hear”), Icelandic heyra (“to hear”), Norwegian Nynorsk haur, høra, høre, høyra, høyre (“to hear”), Swedish höra (“to hear”), Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌿𐍃𐌾𐌰𐌽 (hausjan, “to hear”); also Greek ακούγω (akoúgo), ακούω (akoúo, “to hear”), Italiot Greek κούω (koúo, “to hear”), Tocharian B āks- (“to awaken”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans hoor
- hoorto perceive with the ear
Ancient Greek ἀκούω, ἀκούω
- ἀκούω (akoúō)to perceive sounds through the ear
- ἀκούω (akoúō)to perceive with the ear
- κλύω (klúō)to perceive with the ear
- ἀΐω (aḯō)to perceive with the ear
Arabic سَمِع, سَمِعَ
- سَمِع (samiʕ)to perceive sounds through the ear
- سَمِعَ (samiʕa)to perceive with the ear
Basque entzun, aditu
- entzunto perceive sounds through the ear
- adituto perceive sounds through the ear
- entzunto perceive with the ear
Bengali শোনা
- শোনা (śōna)to perceive with the ear
Bulgarian чу́вам, узна́вам
- чу́вам (čúvam)to perceive sounds through the ear
- узна́вам (uznávam)To receive information about; to come to learn of
- чу́вам (čúvam)to perceive with the ear
Catalan sentir, aprendre
- sentirto perceive sounds through the ear
- aprendreTo receive information about; to come to learn of
- sentirto perceive with the ear
- oirto perceive with the ear
Chinese Cantonese 聽到 /听到
- 聽到 /听到to perceive with the ear
Chinese Mandarin 聽見 /听见, 聽聞 /听闻
- 聽見 /听见 (tīngjiàn)to perceive sounds through the ear
- 聽聞 /听闻 (tīngwén)To receive information about; to come to learn of
- 聽 /听to perceive with the ear
Czech slyšet
- slyšetto perceive with the ear
Danish høre
- høreto perceive with the ear
Dutch horen, horen
- horenTo receive information about; to come to learn of
- horento perceive with the ear
Esperanto aŭdi, aŭdi
- aŭdiTo receive information about; to come to learn of
- aŭdito perceive with the ear
Estonian kuulma
- kuulmato perceive with the ear
Finnish kuulla, kuulla
- kuullato perceive sounds through the ear
- kuullaTo receive information about; to come to learn of
- kuullato perceive with the ear
French entendre, apprendre
- entendreto perceive sounds through the ear
- apprendreTo receive information about; to come to learn of
- entendreTo receive information about; to come to learn of
- ouïr direTo receive information about; to come to learn of
- entendreto perceive with the ear
German hören, hören
- hörento perceive sounds through the ear
- hörento perceive with the ear
Greek ακούω
- ακούω (akoúo)to perceive with the ear
Hawaiian lohe
- loheto perceive with the ear
Hebrew שָׁמַע, שָׁמַע
- שָׁמַע (shamá')to perceive sounds through the ear
- שָׁמַע (shamá')to perceive with the ear
Hindi सुनना
- सुनना (sunnā)to perceive with the ear
Hungarian hall
- hallto perceive with the ear
Icelandic heyra
- heyrato perceive with the ear
Indonesian dengar, dengar
- dengarto perceive sounds through the ear
- dengarto perceive with the ear
Irish clois, cluin
- cloisto perceive with the ear
- cluinto perceive with the ear
- airighto perceive with the ear
Italian udire, sentire
- udireto perceive sounds through the ear
- sentireto perceive sounds through the ear
- conoscereTo receive information about; to come to learn of
- venire a conoscenzaTo receive information about; to come to learn of
- venire a sapereTo receive information about; to come to learn of
- sentireto perceive with the ear
- udireto perceive with the ear
Japanese 聞く, 伺う
- 聞く (kiku)to perceive with the ear
- 伺う (ukagau)to perceive with the ear
Korean 듣다
- 듣다 (deutda)to perceive with the ear
Latin rescisco, audio
- resciscoTo receive information about; to come to learn of
- audioto perceive with the ear
Latvian dzirdēt
- dzirdētto perceive with the ear
Lithuanian girdėti
- girdėtito perceive with the ear
Malay dengar
- dengarto perceive with the ear
Māori oko, rongo
- okoto perceive sounds through the ear
- rongoto perceive sounds through the ear
- hakiri (Indistinctly)to perceive sounds through the ear
- okoto perceive with the ear
- rongoto perceive with the ear
- hakiri (Indistinctly)to perceive with the ear
Norwegian Bokmål høre
- høreto perceive with the ear
Polish słyszeć, słyszeć
- słyszećto perceive sounds through the ear
- słyszećto perceive with the ear
- usłyszećto perceive with the ear
Portuguese ouvir, ouvir falar
- ouvirto perceive sounds through the ear
- ouvir falarTo receive information about; to come to learn of
- ficar sabendoTo receive information about; to come to learn of
- ouvirto perceive with the ear
Romanian auzi, auzi
- auzito perceive sounds through the ear
- auziTo receive information about; to come to learn of
- auzito perceive with the ear
Russian слы́шать, слы́шать
- слы́шать (slýšatʹ)to perceive sounds through the ear
- слы́шать (slýšatʹ)to perceive with the ear
- услы́шать (uslýšatʹ)to perceive with the ear
Scottish Gaelic cluinn
- cluinnto perceive with the ear
Slovak počuť o, čuť
- počuť oTo receive information about; to come to learn of
- čuťto perceive with the ear
- počuťto perceive with the ear
Spanish oír, oir
- oírto perceive sounds through the ear
- oirTo receive information about; to come to learn of
- escucharTo receive information about; to come to learn of
- aprenderTo receive information about; to come to learn of
- enterarseTo receive information about; to come to learn of
- oírto perceive with the ear
Swedish höra, höra
- hörato perceive sounds through the ear
- hörato perceive with the ear
Tagalog marinig, marinig
- marinigto perceive sounds through the ear
- marinigTo receive information about; to come to learn of
- marinigto perceive with the ear
- makarinigto perceive with the ear
Tamil கேள்விப்படு, கேள்
- கேள்விப்படு (kēḷvippaṭu)To receive information about; to come to learn of
- கேள் (kēḷ)to perceive with the ear
Thai ได้ยิน
- ได้ยิน (dâi-yin)to perceive with the ear
Turkish işitmek, duymak
- işitmekto perceive sounds through the ear
- duymakto perceive sounds through the ear
- işitmekto perceive with the ear
- duymakto perceive with the ear
Ukrainian чу́ти, чу́ти
- чу́ти (čúty)to perceive sounds through the ear
- чу́ти (čúty)to perceive with the ear
- почу́ти (počúty)to perceive with the ear
Urdu سُنْنا
- سُنْنا (sunnā)to perceive with the ear
Vietnamese nghe
- ngheto perceive with the ear
Welsh clywed
- clywedto perceive with the ear
Yiddish הערן
- הערן (hern)to perceive with the ear
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with hear
Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
hear. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hear
“hear.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hear. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hear,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hear.
Source: hear on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.