hear

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /hɪə/, US /hɪr/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English heren, inherited from Old English hīeran (Anglian hēran),^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *hauzijaną.^[2][3][5] Its cognates include Old Frisian hēra, Old Saxon hōrian, Dutch horen, German hören and Old Norse heyra,^[3][2][4] and Gothic has hausjan.^[3][2][5] Etymonline notes that the change of -s- to -r- is regular in some Germanic languages.^[2] The root is Proto-Indo-European *kous- (“to hear”), also the source of Greek ἀκούω (akoúō, “to hear”),^[2][3][6] and Klein and the AHD connect it with *(s)keu- (“to observe, perceive”), the root of show.^[7][8] Merriam-Webster also compares Latin cavēre (“to be on guard”).^[9][6] It is related to acoustic, hark and hearken.^[7][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old English hēran is recorded before 800,^[3] and the OED's first examples, “to perceive sound” and “to perceive with the ear”, are from about 950.^[10] Middle English heren appears in 1127.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In Old English the word also meant “to obey”, a sense that lasted until about 1710,^[11] and “to be subject to” until about 1300.^[11] “To listen to, give attention to”, “to learn by being told” and “to judge, try a case” are also Old English.^[2][11] Hearsay, from the phrase by hearing say, dates from about 1330^[10] and became a word in the 16th century.^[5] Like to hear oneself talk is from 1592.^[10] In the 17th century, scholars such as Milton used the Latin idiom hear well or hear ill, “to be praised or blamed”.^[12] Hear! hear!, a cry of approval, is from 1768.^[11]

Timeline

• before 800 – Old English hēran.^[3]
• c. 950 – to perceive sound.^[10]
• Old English – to obey (until about 1710).^[11]
• 1127 – Middle English heren.^[3]
• c. 1330 – by hearing say, hearsay.^[10]
• 1592 – like to hear oneself speak.^[10]
• 17th century – hear ill, to be blamed (Milton).^[12]
• 1768 – hear! hear!.^[11]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To perceive sound with the ear; to be able to do so.
2. To learn by hearing; to be told.
3. To listen to attentively.
4. To listen to in an official capacity, as a judge does a case.
5. To listen to and grant: hear our prayer.
6. To receive news: hear from someone.

Word family

• hearer
• hearable
• hark
• hearsay
• mishear
• outhear
• overhear
• rehear

Related words

• hearing
• hearken
• acoustic
• show

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ a b c d e f Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
12. ^ a b Trench, Richard Chenevix (1859), A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from Their Present, London: John W. Parker