Acroasis

/ækroʊˈeɪsɪs/ noun

Definition

The act of hearing or listening; audition or the sense of hearing itself.

Etymology

From Greek 'akroasis' (hearing, from 'akroasthai' meaning 'to listen'), a direct borrowing from ancient Greek describing the faculty or act of listening.

Kelly Says

This word has almost completely vanished from English, replaced by 'audition' and 'hearing,' but it captures something poetic—the ancient Greeks had a word for the profound act of truly listening.

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