trance

[ trans, trahns ]

/ træns, trɑns /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR trance ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

a dazed or bewildered condition.

a state of complete mental absorption or deep musing.

an unconscious, cataleptic, or hypnotic condition.

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, tranc·ing.

to put in a trance; stupefy.

to entrance; enrapture.

Nearby words

tramping hut, trample, trampoline, tramroad, tramway, trance, trance out, tranche, tranchet, tranexamic acid, tranfd.

Origin of trance

1300–50; Middle English traunce state of extreme dread, swoon, dazed state < Middle French transe literally, passage (from life to death), derivative of transir to go across, pass over < Latin trānsīre, equivalent to trāns- trans- + īre to go

Related formstranced·ly

[transt-lee, tran-sid-lee] /ˈtrænst li, ˈtræn sɪd li/, adverbtrance·like, adjective

Definition for trance (2 of 2)

trance

or transe

[ trahns ]

/ trɑns /

Scot.

noun

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

verb (used without object), tranced, tranc·ing.

to move or walk rapidly or briskly.

Origin of trance

1325–75; Middle English (v.); origin uncertain

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for trance

"I was in a trance and I couldn't see anything else," LaRose said at her sentencing.
The FBI’s Bogus ISIS Bust|James Poulos|November 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The simultaneously upbeat and sentimental ode to friendship is equal parts funk, trance, pop, and R&B.
The Swedish Queen of Soulful Pop: Mapei Won’t Wait for You to Listen|Caitlin Dickson|October 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Ed described himself as a demonologist, while Lorraine, who is 87, calls herself a trance medium.
Beware: Connecticut’s Museum of the Occult May Kill You|Nina Strochlic|July 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Twenty people surround Grace, all of them intently studying her trance state.
Hallucinating Away a Heroin Addiction|Abby Haglage|May 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST

“Death is not the end,” as some characters recite, in something like a trance, to which I can only say, rats!
‘True Detective,’ Obsessive-Compulsive Noir, and ‘Twin Peaks’|Jimmy So|March 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Gray Cloud, in a trance, might already have frozen to death.
Shaman|Robert Shea
Some, with eyes staring straight ahead, seem as in a trance.
The Greater Love|George T. McCarthy
For poor Squire Philip fell into a trance, so to say, out of sheer vexation.
The Maid of Sker|Richard Doddridge Blackmore
Her father again grew deeply concerned about her, and tried casually to draw her out of the trance that seemed to chain her soul.
The Life of Thomas Wanless, Peasant|Alexander Johnstone Wilson
Langhetti, however, found that one of them was only in a 'trance state,' and his efforts for resuscitation were successful.
Cord and Creese|James de Mille

British Dictionary definitions for trance

trance

/ (trɑːns) /

noun

a hypnotic state resembling sleep

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

a dazed or stunned state

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

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

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

verb

(tr) to put into or as into a trance

Derived Formstrancelike, adjective

Word Origin for trance

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

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 trance

trance

late 14c., "state of extreme dread or suspense," also "a dazed, half-conscious or insensible condition," from Old French transe "fear of coming evil," originally "passage from life to death" (12c.), from transir "be numb with fear," originally "die, pass on," from Latin transire "cross over" (see transient). French trance in its modern sense has been reborrowed from English.

trance

noun

verb (used with object), tranced, tranc·ing.

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Origin of trance

Definition for trance (2 of 2)

trance

or transe

noun

verb (used without object), tranced, tranc·ing.

Origin of trance

Examples from the Web for trance

British Dictionary definitions for trance

trance

noun

verb

Word Origin for trance

Word Origin and History for trance

trance

Medicine definitions for trance

trance

n.