arch. Forms: 1 hlystan, 2–3 lusten, 2–5 luste, 3 lhisten, (h)listen, hleste(n, lheste, 3–6 liste, lest(e, 4–5 lyst, (5 lyston, -yn, listyn), 4– list. [OE. hlystan, f. hlyst LIST sb.1 (Cf. mod.Icel. hlusta.)]
1. intr. = LISTEN v. 2.
c. 1000. Instit. Polity, § 5, in Thorpe, Anc. Laws (1840), II. 310. Hlystaþ hwæt ic secge.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 141. Lusteð nu þanne, and undernimeð þreo þing. Ibid., 185. Eie ne maig swo muchel biholden, ne ere lhisten ne herte þenchen.
a. 1250. Owl & Night., 263. Bo nu stille, and lat me speke,… And lust hu ich con me bi-telle.
a. 1300. K. Horn, 355. Lust whi [Harl. MS. list were fore] ihc wonde Bringe þe horn to honde.
a. 1300–1400. Cursor M., 20399 (Gött.). Listes all i ȝu biseke i-wiss.
1549. Latimer, Serm. on Ploughers (Arb.), 29. But nowe I thynke I se you lysting and hearkening, that I shoulde name him.
c. 1590. Greene, Fr. Bacon, xi. (1630), G. List how they rumble.
1606. Shaks., Ant. & Cl., IV. iii. 12. Peace, what noise? 1 [Sol.] List, list. 2 [Sol.] Hearke.
1637. Milton, Comus, 480. List, list, I hear Som far off hallow break the silent Air.
1765. H. Walpole, Otranto, v. (1798), 89. List, sirs, and may this bloody record be a warning to future tyrants.
1808. Scott, Marm., II. xxxiii. The stag … Spread his broad nostril to the wind, Listed before, aside, behind.
1847. Emerson, Poems (1857), 12. Great Napoleon Stops his horse, and lists with delight.
1871. R. Ellis, trans. Catullus, lv. 1. List, I beg, provided you’re in humour.
b. Const. to, unto, till; in OE. dat. and gen.
c. 897. K. Ælfred, Gregory’s Past., xlix. 385. Ða fundon hie hiene … hlystende hiora worda.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Luke xvi. 29. Hiʓ hlyston him.
c. 1200. Ormin, 7846. Þatt he Ne lisste nohht wiþþ ære Till naness kinness idellleȝȝc.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 13833. Ne till vr laghes will he noght list.
c. 1380. Sir Ferumb., 4002. Now lysteþ to þis spelle.
c. 1592. Marlowe, Jew of Malta, I. ii. (1633), C 2. Graue Gouernors, list not to his exclames.
1791. Cowper, Iliad, VII. 54. Wilt then list to me?
1813. Scott, Rokeby, I. i. The warder … Lists to the breeze’s boding sound.
1884. Browning, Ferishtah, The Family, 22. List to a tale.
2. trans. To listen to, hear; = LISTEN v. 1.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 63. [He] þe luste nulleð þesne red.
c. 1200. Vices & Virtues (1888), 67. Hlest hwat se heiȝeste ðe seið.
c. 1200. Ormin, 9017. To lisstenn whatt te preost ȝuw seȝȝþ Off ȝure sawle nede.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 35. Hie openeden his earen to luste þe defles lore.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 20590. Listes þe bon þat scho him badd.
a. 1300. K. Horn, 505. ‘Kyng,’ he sede, ‘þu leste [Laud MS. wiltu luste] A tale mid þe beste.’
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 5083. So is it wit, a wiseman his wordis to listyn.
1598. Shaks., Merry W., V. v. 46. Elues, list your names.
1642. T. Hill, Trade of Truth, Ep. Ded. I put it into your Honourable Protection, who have listed it [a sermon].
1775. Sheridan, Rivals, Epil. But ere the battle should he list her cries, The lover trembles—and the hero dies!
1813. Scott, Rokeby, III. xvii. I list no more the tuck of drum.
1821. Clare, Vill. Minstr., II. 178. I … list the drone of heavy humble-bees.
1896. A. E. Housman, Shropshire Lad, iii. And you will list the bugle That blows in lands of morn.
