Performing a sample of your skills or talent so others can judge whether to hire you, cast you, or accept you into a program.
From Latin 'audire' (to hear) via Old French. The suffix '-tion' creates the noun 'audition,' then '-ing' makes it a verb. Originally it simply meant 'the act of hearing,' but by the 1800s it specialized to mean a trial performance.
Fascinatingly, the word comes from 'hearing' because in theater and music, you'd go be heard—your actual sound and voice were what mattered. Today's auditions still center on this root, even if they now include dancing, acting, or other arts that go beyond pure 'hearing.'
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