verb
hearken
to return in thought or style to an earlier time
The restaurant's checkered floors hearken back to classic American diners.
Etymology
Hearken originally meant to listen. The backward-looking use is associated with hark back, originally a hunting expression for returning to a lost scent, later applied to revisiting an earlier idea or style.
More examples
- These family recipes hearken back to my grandmother's kitchen.
- Her latest novel hearkens back to an era before smartphones.
- The band's early recordings hearkened back to 1950s rock.
Forms
hearken · hearkens · hearkened · hearkening