Meaning

noun a gathering of spectators or listeners at a (usually public) performance

noun the part of the general public interested in a source of information or entertainment

noun an opportunity to state your case and be heard

originFrom Middle English audience, from Middle French audience, from Old French audience, from Latin audientia, from present participle audiēns (“hearing”), from verb audiō (“to hear”). Doublet of audiencia.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0