audition
[aw-dish-uh n]
- a trial hearing given to a singer, actor, or other performer to test suitability for employment, professional training or competition, etc.
- a reading or other simplified rendering of a theatrical work, performed before a potential backer, producer, etc.
- the act, sense, or power of hearing.
- something that is heard.
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- to try or compete in an audition: to audition aspiring actors; to audition for the leading role.
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Origin of audition
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for audition
Contemporary Examples
My agent at the time sent that tape to SNL and then they asked me to come in for an audition.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s GreatnessMarlow Stern
January 7, 2015
I went into the audition as Fericito, the Venezuelan percussionist, and then I did a self-defense expert.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s GreatnessMarlow Stern
January 7, 2015
A few years back, Belle and Sebastian even penned a song, “Suicide Girl,” about a woman trying to audition to be one.
Masters of Alt Sex: SuicideGirls Hits Puberty and Wants to Invade Your TV SetMarlow Stern
December 9, 2014
Alan just happened to be in New York auditioning people, and I got in the room to audition for the first time.
Michael C. Hall on Going Drag for ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch’ and Exorcising ‘Dexter’Marlow Stern
December 4, 2014
She says her modeling agency landed her an audition, and she got the job.
Bill Cosby’s Long List of Accusers (So Far): 18 Alleged Sexual Assault Victims Between 1965-2004Marlow Stern
November 24, 2014
Historical Examples
Experiments lead me to believe that these are organs of audition.
The Dawn of ReasonJames Weir
The science of audition and sound; that branch of physics which treats of their cause, nature, and phenomena.
Audition is cognition of principles, conversant about all articulate sounds.
The Sarva-Darsana-SamgrahaMadhava Acharya
She was not a baby-farm after all, and the audition of these squalling nurslings vexed her.
Mr. Punch's Country LifeVarious
If you're going to audition for the stars, cut down the volume!
Where I Wasn't GoingWalt Richmond
audition
- a test at which a performer or musician is asked to demonstrate his ability for a particular role, etc
- the act, sense, or power of hearing
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- to judge by means of or be tested in an audition
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Word Origin
C16: from Latin audītiō a hearing, from audīre to hear
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for audition
n.
1590s, "power of hearing," from Middle French audicion "hearing (in a court of law)," from Latin auditionem (nominative auditio) "a hearing, listening to," noun of action from past participle stem of audire "hear" (see audience). Meaning "trial for a performer" first recorded 1881.
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v.
"to try out for a performance part," 1935, from audition (n.). Transitive sense by 1944. Related: Auditioned; auditioning.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
audition
(ô-dĭsh′ən)- The sense, ability, or power of hearing.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.