hearing

Etymology

It is formed from English hear + -ing,^[2][3] in Middle English heringe, from heren and -inge.^[4] The verb hear is from Old English hēran, also hīeran.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The act of listening, recorded from before 1225;^[2] the perception of sound by the ear about 1230, in Hali Meidenhad.^[2] Etymonline puts both senses in the early 13th century,^[6] and Merriam-Webster the sense of hearing in the 13th century.^[4]

Semantic evolution

From the act of perceiving or listening, the noun spread to what is within reach of the ear: in one's hearing and within hearing, from about 1395 in the later Wycliffite Bible.^[2][3] It also came to mean what one has heard, a report or news, from before 1300,^[2][3] and knowledge gained that way, from about 1410 (to come to one's hearing).^[2] Chaucer used the verbal noun five times.^[7] The legal sense, the listening to evidence and pleadings in a court, followed in the late 16th century.^[2][3][6] Johnson (1755) listed four senses: the sense, audience, judicial trial and the reach of the ear.^[8] The sense "news" and the sense "scolding" (from 1816, in Scott's Old Mortality) stayed in Scottish and English dialect;^[2][9] the English Dialect Dictionary also has it in Caithness for a church service or a chance to preach as a candidate for a pastorate, and in Kent, west Somerset and north-west Devon for a trial.^[9] The compound hearing aid dates from 1908.^[6]

Timeline

• before 1225 – the action of listening; audience.^[2]
• c. 1230 – perception of sound by the ear; the faculty of hearing.^[2][6]
• before 1300 – something heard; a report, news.^[2]
• c. 1395 – in one's hearing, within earshot of someone.^[2]
• c. 1410 – knowledge gained by being told.^[2]
• 1576 – the listening to evidence in a court of law.^[2][6]
• 1816 – a scolding (dialect).^[2][9]
• 1908 – hearing aid.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. The sense by which sound is perceived; the power or act of perceiving sound: The old sailor's hearing grew worse with every year.^[10][4]
2. The range within which sound can be heard; earshot: They stopped talking when the guards came within hearing.^[10][3]
3. An opportunity to be listened to: The board gave her proposal a fair hearing.^[10][3]
4. The investigation of a matter by a court of law, especially a preliminary inquiry or a trial before a judge without a jury.^[10][2][3]
5. (dialect) News or a report.^[2][3][9]
6. (dialect) A scolding.^[2][9]

Word family

• hearingless
• hearing-impaired
• prehearing
• unhearing
• hard of hearing
• hearing aid
• hearing dog
• hearing-ear dog

Related words

• hear

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ a b c d e Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
10. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins