audience
/ˈɔːdi.əns/ noun
Forms audiences
- noun A group of people within hearing; specifically, a large gathering of people listening to or watching a performance, speech, etc. “We joined the audience just as the lights went down.”
- noun (now rare) Hearing; the condition or state of hearing or listening.
- noun A widespread or nationwide viewing or listening public, as of a TV or radio network or program.
- noun A formal meeting with a state or religious dignitary. “She managed to get an audience with the Pope.”
- noun The readership of a book or other written publication. “"Private Eye" has a small but faithful audience.”
- noun A following. “The opera singer expanded his audience by singing songs from the shows.”
- noun (historical) An audiencia (judicial court of the Spanish empire), or the territory administered by it.
Synonyms
spectators crowd hearership listenership hearing consultation interview
Etymology
From Middle English audience, from Middle French audience, from Old French audience, from Latin audientia, from present participle audiēns (“hearing”), from verb audiō (“to hear”). Doublet of audiencia.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The act of hearing; attention to sounds.
- noun Admittance to a hearing; a formal interview, esp. with a sovereign or the head of a government, for conference or the transaction of business.
Etymology [F. audience, L. audientia, fr. audire to hear. See Audible, a.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “audience”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details