aus·cul·ta·tion 
(ô′skəl-tāshən)
(ô′skəl-tāshən)n.
1. The act of listening.
2. Medicine The act of listening for sounds made by internal organs, as the heart and lungs, to aid in the diagnosis of certain disorders.
[Latin auscultātiō, auscultātiōn-, from auscultātus, past participle of auscultāre, to listen to; see ous- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]