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

Words Nearby séance

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

How to use séance in a sentence

  • You would see it small, shrunken, dropped together, just like the body of a materialising medium at a seance.

    Three More John Silence Stories | Algernon Blackwood
  • Margaret Halley stared reflectively at the blotting-pad for a moment, and then described a typical seance at Kazmah's.

    Dope | Sax Rohmer
  • When Old Stone Face had been staring at them during the seance—seance?

    Sense from Thought Divide | Mark Irvin Clifton
  • This was all carried out preliminary to a seance, and a final examination of the room was made.

    Psychic Phenomena | Edward T. Bennett
  • Immediately on beginning the seance the young girl was taken possession of by an entity claiming to be Turner.

    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