Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “audience” come from?

audience (Middle English) comes from Middle French audience, from Old French audience, from Latin audientia, from Latin audiēns, from Latin audiō, from Proto-Indo-European h₂ew-is-d-, from Proto-Indo-European dʰeh₁- — to do, put, place.

Ancestry of “audience”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchaudience—
2Old Frenchaudience—
3LatinaudientiaThe act of hearing or listening; attention, heed;...
4Latinaudiēns—
5Latinaudiō—
6Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂ew-is-d-—
7Proto-Indo-Europeandʰeh₁-to do, put, place

Words derived from “audience”

  • audience
  • preaudience
  • audienceless
  • cyberaudience
  • audience
Every word from Proto-Indo-European dʰeh₁- →