Emily Dickinson Lexicon

audience (-s), n. [Fr. < L. audīre, to hear.] (webplay: sounds).

1. Assembly for entertainment; people who gather to hear a program; group of people who meet to see a show.
2. Group of observers; assembly of listeners and viewers; persons within hearing; assembly of listeners; auditory; [fig.] group of creatures in nature.
3. Judgment; judicial hearing; ecclesiastical court in front of auditors; [fig.] judgment day interview.
4. Court; place where an archbishop considers consecrations, elections, institutions, marriages, and so forth.
5. Formal interview; communication between a superior and an inferior.