noun

1. Obsolete the act or state of hearing
2. a group of persons assembled to hear and see a speaker, a play, a concert, etc.
3. all those persons who are tuned in to a particular radio or TV program
4. ☆ all those persons who read what one writes or hear what one says; one's public
5. an opportunity to have one's ideas heard; a hearing
6. a formal interview with a person in a high position

Etymology: ME & OFr < L audientia, a hearing, listening < audiens, prp. of audire, to hear < IE *awiz-dh-io < base *awis-, to perceive physically, grasp > aesthete