Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Listen

Listen (lis"'n) , intransitive verb

[Old English listnen, listen, lustnen, lusten, Anglo-Saxon hlystan; akin to hlyst hearing, Old Saxon hlust, Icelandic hlusta to listen, hlust ear, Anglo-Saxon hlosnian to wait in suspense, Old High German hlosēn to listen, Greek kly`ein, and English loud. r41. See Loud, and compare List to listen.]

1.
To give close attention with the purpose of hearing; to give ear; to hearken; to attend.
When we have occasion to listen, and give a more particular attention to some sound, the tympanum is drawn to a more than ordinary tension. — Holder
2.
To give heed; to yield to advice; to follow admonition; to obey.
Listen to me, and by me be ruled. — Tennyson
Soldiers note forts, armories, and magazines; scholars listen after libraries, disputations, and professors. — Fuller
Collocations (1)
To listen after , to take an interest in. [Obsolete]

Listen , transitive verb

To attend to. [Obsolete] — Shakespeare