hearer

From Middle English heerar, herere, hyerere, equivalent to hear +‎ -er.

• (Received Pronunciation, General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈhɪəɹə/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈhɪɹɚ/
• (US, without the mirror–nearer merger) IPA^(key): /ˈhɪəɹə(ɹ)/, /ˈhiɹə(ɹ)/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈhiəɹə/
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /ˈhiɹəɹ/
• (East Anglia, cheer–chair merger) IPA^(key): /ˈhɛːɹə/
• Rhymes: -ɪəɹə(ɹ)

hearer (plural hearers)

1. One who hears.
   • 2019, Shalom Lappin, Chris Fox, The Handbook of Contemporary Semantic Theory, page 185:

     Defaultism
     The defaultist view is that some conversational implicatures are default inferences—presumptive meanings—that the hearer makes unless given reason not to by the speaker.

2. A person who regularly attends sermons; a devout listener.
   • 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 258:

     Whilst Mr. Taale was priest in Osteröe, it happened that one of his hearers was carried away and returned again.

• rehear