hear
v.v. to receive sounds through your ears. You use this when you notice a noise or listen to someone speaking.
v. to perceive sound through the auditory nerves. In legal contexts, it refers to a judge or court presiding over a case to listen to evidence and arguments.
I can hear the birds singing outside my window.
The judge will hear the witness testimony tomorrow morning before making a final decision.
While the physiological ability to hear is innate for most, the cognitive capacity to listen critically requires a disciplined focus on the nuances of spoken language.
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h₂ṓws Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *h₂ḱh₂owsyéti Proto-Germanic *hauzijaną Proto-West Germanic *hauʀijan Old English hīeran Middle English heren English hear From Middle English heren, from Old English hīeran (“to hear”), from Proto-West Germanic hauʀijan, from Proto-Germanic hauzijaną (“to hear”), from Proto-Indo-European h₂ḱh₂owsyéti (“to be sharp-eared”), from h₂eḱ- (“sharp”) + h₂ows- (“ear”) + -yéti (denominative suffix). Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian heere (“to hear”), West Frisian hearre (“to hear”), Dutch horen (“to hear”), German hören (“to hear”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål høre (“to hear”), Norwegian Nynorsk høyra (“to hear”), Swedish höra (“to hear”), Icelandic heyra (“to hear”), Ancient Greek ἀκούω (akoúō, “I hear”).
The verb is transitive when referring to specific sounds, but can be intransitive. It is a stative verb and is rarely used in the continuous (-ing) form for its sensory meaning.
I am hearing a loud noise right now.I hear a loud noise right now.As a verb of perception, it is usually used in the simple present rather than the present continuous.