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Original · left

Listener (person)

An attentive individual who concentrates on hearing someone speak or playing music.

First in use: ancient / pre-modern
Duplicate · right

Event listener

An event handler function running continuously in the background to detect and respond to asynchronous system triggers.

First in use: the 1990s

Listener / Listener (person) / Event listener

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Colour keyGrey · original meaningGreen · duplicate meaningAmber · contested (40–60%)How colours work

Good listeners vs. addEventListener.

Which meaning of Listener is the original, and which one is the duplicate riding on its name? Listener (person) came first (ancient / pre-modern). Event listener arrived in the 1990s. The data below shows which one owns the word now.

Wikipedia pageviews since 2015

Listener (person)Event listener
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Duplicate's share of attention

Green line = duplicate's % · above 60 it owns the word · below 40 the original does

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The case for each meaning

Sourced definitions, usage stats and quotes

Original · ancient / pre-modern

Listener (person)

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Duplicate · the 1990s

Event listener

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More duplicated terms

Programming & software