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Today, audition most often refers to an artistic performance, but that wasn’t always the case. Audition has roots in the Latin verb audīre meaning “to hear,” and was first used in the late 16th century to refer to the power or sense of hearing. Audīre is also the root of such hearing-related words in English as audible (“capable of being heard”), audience (which first meant “the act or state of hearing”), and the combining form audio-, which appears in various words relating to sound. It wasn’t until the late 19th century that the noun audition began being used for an entertainer’s trial performance. And the verb audition, meaning “to test or try out in an audition,” didn’t appear on the English language stage until the mid-20th century.
Examples of audition in a Sentence
Kalia Richardson, Rolling Stone, 25 Jan. 2025
Someone like Stephen Moyer came in with an audition that just knocked our socks off.
—Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 24 Jan. 2025
Colson Thayer, People.com, 27 Jan. 2025
Although originally slated to audition for a different section of the film, Liotta was immediately drawn to the character when reading the script.
—Kristen Tauer, WWD, 27 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for audition 
Dictionary Entries Near audition
Cite this Entry
“Audition.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/audition. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
audition
1 of 2 noun
audition
2 of 2 verbMedical Definition
audition
noun
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