(treated as sing. or pl) a group of listeners or spectators, e.g. at a theatre or concert performance or a formal lecture
(treated as sing. or pl)
the people targeted or reached by a television or radio programme or by a particular writer or book
an entertainer's body of fans
a formal hearing or interview
We were granted an audience with the Pope
[Middle English via Old French from Latin audientia, from audient-, audiens, present part. of audire to hear]