Au'di-ençe, n.

(Synop., § 130), n. [Fr. audience, Pr. audiencia, Lat. audientia.] 1. The act of hearing, or attending to sounds. Thou therefore give due audience, and attend. Milton. 2. Admittance to a hearing; reception to an interview, especially with a sovereign or the head of a government, for conference or the transaction of business. Let me have audience: I am sent to speak, My holy lord of Milan, from the king. Shak. 3. An auditory; an assembly of hearers. Fit audience find, though few. Milton. He drew his audience upward to the sky. Dryden.