Listener

How to spell listener

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce listener

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does listener mean?

1. nounA person who pays attention to what is being said, played, or broadcast.

Listener in a sentence

• The radio station thanked every loyal listener for tuning in.

• A good listener rarely interrupts and asks thoughtful questions instead.

Where does listener come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word is built on the verb 'listen', which descends from the Old English hlysnan, meaning 'to pay attention to' or 'to hear'. That verb belonged to a wider Germanic family rooted in a sense of 'hearing' or 'heeding', and a related Old English noun hlyst meant 'the sense of hearing'. The familiar but silent 't' in 'listen' crept into the spelling later, partly by analogy with words like 'glisten' and 'moisten', even though it was never sounded; that silent letter is the chief reason the modern spelling looks trickier than it sounds. The agent suffix '-er', also of native Germanic stock, was added to mark the person who performs the action, giving 'listener' its straightforward meaning of 'one who listens'. The same hlyst root still echoes faintly in the archaic poetic word 'list', meaning to wish or to hearken.

How the word is built

• listen (to hear, pay attention)
• -er (agent suffix: one who does)