harken

Definition & meaning

The verb harken (often spelled harchen in modern German, though harken is the traditional form) has two distinct meanings:

1. To rake: This refers to the agricultural or gardening activity of using a tool (a rake) to gather leaves, hay, or debris, or to level soil.
2. To listen (archaic): In older German, harken or horchen was used to mean to listen intently or to eavesdrop. However, in modern German, the spelling harken is almost exclusively reserved for the agricultural tool usage, while horchen is the standard verb for listening.

Grammar & Word origin

• Grammar: It is a weak verb. Its conjugation is: ich harke, du harkst, er/sie/es harkt. The past tense is harkte and the past participle is geharkt.
• Word origin: It is derived from the noun die Harke (rake). The word is related to the Middle High German harke and the Low German harke. It is etymologically connected to the Old English hearpe, though its primary evolution in German has been associated with the action performed by the tool.

Synonyms & antonyms

Synonyms:

• rechen↗ (this is the most common synonym for the action of raking)
• zusammenharken↗
• horchen↗ (only in the archaic sense of listening)
• lauschen↗ (only in the archaic sense of listening)

Antonyms:

• There are no direct antonyms for the action of raking, as it describes a specific physical task. In the context of listening (archaic), an antonym would be überhören↗ (to ignore or not hear something).