audience

Borrowed from Old French audience, from Latin audientia, from present participle audiens "hearing", from verb audio (“I hear”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈɔːdi.əns/

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

audience (plural audiences)

1. A group of people within hearing; specifically, a large gathering of people listening to or watching a performance, speech, etc. [from 15th c.]
   • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 3, in The Mirror and the Lamp:

     One saint's day in mid-term a certain newly appointed suffragan-bishop came to the school chapel, and there preached on “The Inner Life.”  He at once secured attention by his informal method, and when presently the coughing of Jarvis […] interrupted the sermon, he altogether captivated his audience with a remark about cough lozenges being cheap and easily procurable.

   We joined the audience just as the lights went down.

2. (now rare) Hearing; the condition or state of hearing or listening. [from 14th c.]
   • 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Luke VII:

     When he had ended all his sayinges in the audience of the people, he entred into Capernaum.

3. A widespread or nationwide viewing or listening public, as of a TV or radio network or program.
4. A formal meeting with a state or religious dignitary. [from 16th c.]

   She managed to get an audience with the Pope.

5. The readership of a book or other written publication. [from 19th c.]

   "Private Eye" has a small but faithful audience.

6. A following. [from 20th c.]

   The opera singer expanded his audience by singing songs from the shows.

7. (historical) An audiencia (judicial court of the Spanish empire), or the territory administered by it.

• In some dialects, audience is used as a plurale tantum.

  The audience are getting restless.

• hearership, listenership
• (large gathering of people watching a performance): spectators, crowd

• audience on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Audience (meeting) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

From Old French audience, borrowed from Latin audientia, from present participle audiens "hearing", from verb audio, "I hear".

• IPA^(key): /o.djɑ̃s/

• audio

  (file)

audience f (plural audiences)

1. audience, viewer

• attention
• entretien
• séance

• audimat
• audimètre
• auditeur, auditrice
• audition
• auditoire

• “audience” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Borrowed from English audience, from Latin audientia, derived from audiēns, present active participle of audiō (“I hear, listen to”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈɔ.djens/, [ˈɔːd̪jen̪s̪]
• Hyphenation: au‧dience

audience f (uncountable)

1. audience (widespread or nationwide viewing or listening public)

• udienza