trance

¹

[trans, trahns]

noun

1. a half-conscious state, seemingly between sleeping and waking, in which ability to function voluntarily may be suspended.

2. a dazed or bewildered condition.

3. a state of complete mental absorption or deep musing.

4. an unconscious, cataleptic, or hypnotic condition.

5. Spiritualism.,  a temporary state in which a medium, with suspension of personal consciousness, is controlled by an intelligence from without and used as a means of communication, as from the dead.

verb (used with object)

tranced, trancing 

1. to put in a trance; stupefy.

2. to entrance; enrapture.

trance

²

Or transe

[trahns]

noun

1. a passageway, as a hallway, alley, or the like.

verb (used without object)

tranced, trancing 

1. to move or walk rapidly or briskly.

trance

/ trɑːns /

noun

1. a hypnotic state resembling sleep

2. any mental state in which a person is unaware or apparently unaware of the environment, characterized by loss of voluntary movement, rigidity, and lack of sensitivity to external stimuli

3. a dazed or stunned state

4. a state of ecstasy or mystic absorption so intense as to cause a temporary loss of consciousness at the earthly level

5. spiritualism a state in which a medium, having temporarily lost consciousness, can supposedly be controlled by an intelligence from without as a means of communication with the dead

6. a type of electronic dance music with repetitive rhythms, aiming at a hypnotic effect

verb

1. (tr) to put into or as into a trance

Other Word Forms

• trancedly adverb
• trancelike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of trance¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English traunce, trauns(e), “state of extreme dread, swoon, dazed state,” from Old French transe “passage (from life to death),” derivative of transir “to go across, pass over,” from Latin trānsīre, equivalent to trāns- trans- + īre “to go”

Origin of trance²

First recorded in 1540–50; origin uncertain; perhaps shortening of transit ( def. )

Word History and Origins

Origin of trance¹

C14: from Old French transe , from transir to faint, pass away, from Latin trānsīre to go over, from _trans- + īre to go

Example Sentences

But sometime this year, I realized I had drifted into the modern trance of double-screening — phone glowing while the television blared — and something in me rebelled.

Read more on Salon

After performing the Sun Dance and staring into the sun, he fell into a trance.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

But the sense of squandered opportunity is only heightened when you get to Don't Look Down - which marries a Bansuri flute motif to a thrumming trance beat.

Read more on BBC

The accordionist commands the stage, his eyes staring off as if in a trance, his fingers trilling out the opening notes of a tune.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

So, after my haircut, I hypnotised someone in the shop using the same language and pattens used in the DVD and the person just dropped unconscious and in a trance.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• coma 
• rapture 
• reverie 
• stupor 
• unconsciousness