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hark back. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
hark back, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
hark back in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
hark back you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology
From hark (“to listen attentively”) + back (“to or in a previous condition or place”, adverb), originally a hunting command to hounds meaning “Listen! Go back!”.
Pronunciation
Verb
hark back (third-person singular simple present harks back, present participle harking back, simple past and past participle harked back)
- (intransitive)
- (hunting) Of hounds: to retrace a course in order to pick up the lost scent of prey.
- (by extension) To return to where one has previously been; to retrace one's steps.
- Synonym: go back
1885, H[enry] Rider Haggard, “Hans’ City of Rest”, in The Witch’s Head , volume III, London: Hurst and Blackett, , →OCLC, page 18:He must have overshot the mark, and must hark back. So he turned his weary horse's head, and made his way back along the road to the spot where his spoor struck into it.
- (figuratively) To allude, return, or revert (to a subject previously mentioned, etc.); also, to evoke, or long or pine for (a past era or event).
- Synonyms: harken back, hearken back (both sometimes proscribed); call back
1881, W[illiam] E[dward] Norris, “A Racecourse and a Cathedral”, in Matrimony. , volume II, London: Smith, Elder & Co., , →OCLC, pages 76–77:Mr. Flemyng, who had been assuaging his thirst with more champagne during the afternoon, had harked back to the subject of his morning's discourse, and was laying down an authoritative scheme of ethics, in the course of which sundry hard words, such as transcendentalism, pseudo-materialism and the like, lost a syllable here and there.
- (transitive, hunting) To call back (hounds); to recall.
Usage notes
The forms harken back and hearken back have been used since the 1930s, and the bare form harken has been used since the 1980s, though some authorities frown on these and prefer the traditional form hark back.
The eggcorn harp back (influenced by harp on) is occasionally found, but is generally regarded as an error.
Derived terms
Translations
of hounds: to retrace a course in order to pick up the lost scent of prey
to allude, return, or revert to (a subject previously mentioned, etc.); to evoke, or long or pine for (a past era or event)
to call back (hounds)
— see recall
See also
Noun
hark back (plural hark backs)
- Alternative form of hark-back
- (hunting) An act of hounds retracing a course in order to pick up the lost scent of prey.
- (figuratively) An act of alluding, returning, or reverting (to a subject previously mentioned, etc.); also, an act of evoking, or longing or pining for (a past era or event).
Alternative forms
Translations
act of hounds retracing a course in order to pick up the lost scent of prey
act of alluding, returning, or reverting (to a subject previously mentioned, etc.); act of evoking, or long or pining for (a past era or event)
References
- ^ Paul Brians (2009) “hark/hearken”, in Common Errors in English Usage, 2nd edition, Wilsonville, Or.: William, James & Company, →ISBN.
- ^ See, for example, Don Hoeferkamp (2011 January 31) “Harking Back/Hearkening Back”, in A Lighthearted Book of Common Errors, : Trafford Publishing, →ISBN, page 33.
- ^ Mark Liberman (2004 June 25) “Harping Back or Harking Back?”, in Language Log, archived from the original on 1 February 2021.
Further reading
- “hark back, v.” under “hark, v.”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2020.
- “hark back, n.” under “hark, n.”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2019.
- “hark back, phrasal v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- Merriam–Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1994, →ISBN, page 497.