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audience

 - 3 dictionary results

au⋅di⋅ence

  [aw-dee-uhns]
Use audience in a Sentence
–noun
1. the group of spectators at a public event; listeners or viewers collectively, as in attendance at a theater or concert: The audience was respectful of the speaker's opinion.
2. the persons reached by a book, radio or television broadcast, etc.; public: Some works of music have a wide and varied audience.
3. a regular public that manifests interest, support, enthusiasm, or the like; a following: Every art form has its audience.
4. opportunity to be heard; chance to speak to or before a person or group; a hearing.
5. a formal interview with a sovereign, high officer of government, or other high-ranking person: an audience with the pope.
6. the act of hearing, or attending to, words or sounds.
Origin:
1325–75; ME < MF < L audientia. See audient, -ence

Usage note:
See collective noun.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To audience
au·di·ence   (ô'dē-əns)   
n.  

    1. The spectators or listeners assembled at a performance, for example, or attracted by a radio or television program.

    2. The readership for printed matter, as for a book.

  2. A body of adherents; a following: The tenor expanded his audience by recording popular songs as well as opera.

  3. A formal hearing, as with a religious or state dignitary.

  4. An opportunity to be heard or to express one's views.

  5. The act of hearing or attending.


[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin audientia, from audiēns, audient-, present participle of audīre, to hear; see au- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

audience 
c.1374, "the action of hearing," from O.Fr. audience, from L. audentia "a hearing, listening," from audientum (nom. audiens), prp. of audire "to hear," from PIE compound *au-dh- "to perceive physically, grasp," from base *au- "to perceive" (cf. Gk. aisthanesthai "to feel"). Meaning "formal hearing or reception" is from 1377; that of "persons within hearing range, assembly of listeners" is from 1407. Sense transferred 1855 to "readers of a book." Audience-participation (adj.) first recorded 1940.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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