Plural of hearer; multiple people who hear or listen to something.
From 'hearer' (hear + -er) with the regular plural '-s' suffix; found in religious or formal contexts where listeners are called 'hearers of the word'.
In biblical and formal speech, 'hearers' maintains prestige that 'listeners' lacks—'hearers of the Word' sounds more scriptural than 'listeners,' showing how older English preserves certain words in specialized registers even when they'd otherwise be obsolete!
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