Going back

June 16th, 2008 at 08:00am Barry Wood

Webster’s considers the verb “hearken” to be either “literary” or “archaic.” That means we ought to avoid it as much as possible.

Its only current application is in the phrase “hearken back,” meaning “to go back in thought or speech; revert.”

If you have occasion to use it, perhaps in a quote, the spelling “hearken” is preferred to “harken.”

Or you could go with “hark back.”

Entry Filed under: hearken vs. harken