# audience
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English audience, from Middle French audience, from Old French audience, from Latin audientia, from present participle audiens (“hearing”), from verb audio (“I hear”). Doublet of audiencia.

### Pronunciation

* (UK) IPA: /ˈɔːdiəns/, /ˈɔːdɪəns/
* Audio (UK):(file)
* (US) IPA: /ˈɔdiəns/
* (cot–caught merger) IPA: /ˈɑdiəns/
* Audio (US):(file)

### Noun

audience (plural audiences)
* A group of people within hearing; specifically, a large gathering of people listening to or watching a performance, speech, etc. [from 15th c.]
    We joined the audience just as the lights went down.
** 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 26: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.
** 1952 February, H. C. Casserley, “Permanent Wayfarings”, in Railway Magazine, page 77:My audience to this not-too-easy operation was a small group of Scottish school lasses, who seemed (perhaps naturally) to find the proceedings somewhat mysterious, but at any rate amusing. I wished they would go away, but they didn't, so I had to get on with the job to the accompaniment of a background of giggles!
* (now rare) Hearing; the condition or state of hearing or listening. [from 14th c.]
** 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Luke vij:[1], folio lxxxiiij, verso:WHen he had ended all his ſayingꝭ in the audience of the people / he entred ĩto Capernaum.
* A widespread or nationwide viewing or listening public, as of a TV or radio network or program.
* A formal meeting with a state or religious dignitary. [from 16th c.]
    She managed to get an audience with the Pope.
** 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Citadel:Captain Anderson: Sounds like you convinced the Council to give us an audience. Ambassador Udina: They were not happy about it. Saren's their top agent. They don't like him being accused of treason.
* The readership of a book or other written publication. [from 19th c.]
    "Private Eye" has a small but faithful audience.
* A following. [from 20th c.]
    The opera singer expanded his audience by singing songs from the shows.
* (historical) An audiencia (judicial court of the Spanish empire), or the territory administered by it.

#### Usage notes

* In some lects, audience is used as a plurale tantum.
    The audience are getting restless.

#### Synonyms

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

#### Derived terms

* audience effect
* audience hall
* audience left
* audienceless
* audience-proof
* audience right
* audience surrogate
* audience wave
* captive audience
* captive audience meeting
* cyberaudience
* fraudience
* inherited audience
* intended audience
* preaudience
* target audience
* unaudienced
* viewing audience
* work the audience

#### Related terms

* audition

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

#### Further reading

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

## French
### Etymology

Inherited from Old French audience, borrowed from Latin audientia, from present participle audiēns (“hearing”), from verb audiō (“to hear”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /o.djɑ̃s/
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

audience f (plural audiences)
* audience, viewer
    Synonyms: attention, entretien, séance
* (court) hearing

#### Derived terms

* salle d’audience

#### Related terms

* audimat
* audimètre
* auditeur, auditrice
* audition
* auditoire

### Further reading

* “audience”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

## Italian
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈɔ.djens/, /ˈo.djens/
* Rhymes: -ɔdjens, -odjens
* Hyphenation: au‧dience

### Noun

audience f (uncountable)
* audience (widespread or nationwide viewing or listening public)

#### Related terms

* udienza

### References

* ↑ audience in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)