Third-person singular present: listens attentively or pays heed to something said.
From Old English 'heorcnian' meaning to listen or hear. The term evolved through Middle English and remains in modern English as a somewhat formal or literary verb, often used in phrases like 'harken back to' (return to or reference something from the past).
The phrase 'harken back' is tricky—it uses 'harken' metaphorically to mean 'return' rather than literally 'listen to.' So when we say something 'harkens back' to the past, we're poetically saying the past 'calls out to be listened to' again.
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