audience

[ aw-dee-uhns ]

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.

audience

/ ˈɔːdɪəns /

noun

1. a group of spectators or listeners, esp at a public event such as a concert or play
2. the people reached by a book, film, or radio or television programme
3. the devotees or followers of a public entertainer, lecturer, etc; regular public
4. an opportunity to put one's point of view, such as a formal interview with a monarch or head of state

Grammar Note

See collective noun.

Other Words From

• pro·audi·ence adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of audience¹

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin audientia “act of listening, group of listeners,” from audient-, stem of audiēns “hearing” (present participle of audīre “to hear”) + -ia -ia ( def )

Word History and Origins

Origin of audience¹

C14: from Old French, from Latin audientia a hearing, from audīre to hear

Example Sentences

The goal was to get an audience member to buy the illusion that U2 is onstage.

From Los Angeles Times

The first few songs are shot from a steady position in the audience.

From Los Angeles Times

Looking back at “U2:UV,” the Edge, 63, says a Sphere production is “its own distinct kind of art form — a new art form, I think, not just for music but for narrative film, for documentary, for all kinds of presentations. It’s the ability to translocate the audience to a new place, be it real or imaginary.”

From Los Angeles Times

In February 2010, as Republicans gathered for the prestigious annual Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C., the Center for Immigration Studies’ longtime executive director, Mark Krikorian, sat on a panel about immigration reform in front of a packed audience, along with Robert Rector from the Heritage Foundation and Steve King, the lightning-rod congressman from Iowa.

From Salon

Near the end of the session someone in the audience asked why the center was publishing reports about climate change if it was a hoax?

From Salon

Related Words

• congregation
• crowd
• gallery
• gathering
• market
• public