hearken
/ˈhɑːk(ə)n/
"hearken" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“hearken” is uncommon English (frequency #67,499 among 23,837 “H” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #67,499
- frequency rank, English
- 23,837
- “H” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To hear (something) with attention; to have regard to (something).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | hearken |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈhɑːk(ə)n/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #67,499 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “hearken” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
hearken is uncommon English at frequency #67,499 among 23,837 “H” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈhɑːk(ə)n/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for hearken, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English herkenen (“to listen (attentively); to pay attention, take heed”) [and other forms], from Old English hercnian, heorcnian, hyrcnian, from *heorcian (“to hark”) infixed with -n-, from Proto-West Germanic *hauʀijan, from Proto-Germanic *ha… The correct English form is hearken, spelled H-E-A-R-K-E-N.
Definition
- 1To hear (something) with attention; to have regard to (something).
- 2To listen; to attend or give heed to what is uttered; to hear with attention, compliance, or obedience.
- 3To enquire; to seek information.
Etymology
From Middle English herkenen (“to listen (attentively); to pay attention, take heed”) [and other forms], from Old English hercnian, heorcnian, hyrcnian, from *heorcian (“to hark”) infixed with -n-, from Proto-West Germanic *hauʀijan, from Proto-Germanic *hauzijaną (“to hear”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ḱh₂owsyéti (“to be sharp-eared, hear well”), from *h₂eḱ- (“sharp”) + *h₂ṓws (“ear”) + *-yéti (denominative suffix), thus equivalent to hark + -en. The spelling of the English word was probably influenced by hear; a similarly analogical pronunciation existed in Early Modern English.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “hearken”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is H-E-A-R-K-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈhɑːk(ə)n/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.