noun

audition

The ability or process of perceiving sound.

The experiment compares audition and vision as sources of spatial information.

Etymology

Latin audire means to hear, and the ending names an action or process. Audition in this sense refers directly to hearing, including the perception of sound by the listener.

More examples

  • The textbook devotes a chapter to audition.
  • Researchers measured audition under carefully controlled noise conditions.
  • The lecture traces the neural pathways involved in audition.

Forms

auditory adjective — Relating to the sense of hearing.

Similar words

hearing
Is the ordinary word for the same sensory process.
listening
Usually means directing attention toward sound rather than simply perceiving it.