séance

[ sey-ahns ]
See synonyms for séance on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a meeting in which a spiritualist attempts to communicate with the spirits of the dead.

  2. a session or sitting, as of a class or organization.

Origin of séance

1
1795–1805; <French: session, equivalent to sé-, base of seoir to sit1 (<Latin sedēre) + -ance-ance

usage note For séance

See resume2.

Words that may be confused with séance

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use séance in a sentence

  • The bluff Liverpool man objected to joining hands—he had been to successful seances, where hands were not joined.

  • We have had continued messages at seances for some time that a visible sign was coming through—and perhaps this was what is meant.

    The Coming of the Fairies | Arthur Conan Doyle
  • With his "third degree" seances he arrived at results better and more quickly than in any other way.

    The Third Degree | Charles Klein and Arthur Hornblow
  • She was well acquainted with him for twenty-five years, attended many seances, and took notes of them at the time.

    Psychic Phenomena | Edward T. Bennett
  • Consequently we get many foolish communications and an enormous amount of commonplace platitude is delivered at seances.

    Elementary Theosophy | L. W. Rogers

British Dictionary definitions for seance

seance

sance

/ (ˈseɪɑ̃ns, -ɑːns) /


noun
  1. a meeting at which spiritualists attempt to receive messages from the spirits of the dead

  2. a meeting of a society

Origin of seance

1
C19: from French, literally: a sitting, from Old French seoir to sit, from Latin sedēre

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012