séance

[sey-ahns]

noun

a meeting in which a spiritualist attempts to communicate with the spirits of the dead.
a session or sitting, as of a class or organization.

Origin of séance

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

Can be confusedscience séance

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for seance

gathering, meeting, ritual, session

Examples from the Web for seance

Historical Examples of seance

This is the first seance I have ever taken part in, but I must believe now.'
Echoes of the War
J. M. Barrie
The seance is of old and elder men, of whom Socrates is the youngest.
Laches
Plato
Then followed the usual sort of thing which follows at this sort of seance.
Galusha the Magnificent
Joseph C. Lincoln
When Old Stone Face had been staring at them during the seance—seance?
Sense from Thought Divide
Mark Irvin Clifton
At the termination of the seance, the spirit-voice said, 'We are going'.
Myth, Ritual, and Religion, Vol. 1
Andrew Lang

British Dictionary definitions for seance

seance

sance

noun

a meeting at which spiritualists attempt to receive messages from the spirits of the dead
a meeting of a society

Word Origin for seance

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

Word Origin and History for seance

1789, "sitting, session," as of a learned society, from French séance "a sitting," from seoir "to sit," from Latin sedere (see sedentary). Meaning "spiritualistic session" first recorded 1845.