The act of listening attentively; close attention or heed.
From 'hearken' (Old English 'heorcnian') plus '-ing', forming a gerund or noun describing the action of attentive listening.
The gerund 'hearkening' captures not just the act of hearing but the attitude of willingness to obey—'hearkening to advice' implies you're actually taking it seriously, whereas 'listening' could be passive; this nuance is why older words sometimes persist despite having modern synonyms!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.