Trance
name, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A dazed or unconscious condition. countable
- 2 A tedious journey. dialectal
"So saying, he led the way out through halls and trances that were weel kend to my gudesire, and into the auld oak parlour; […]"
- 3 a state of mind in which consciousness is fragile and voluntary action is poor or missing; a state resembling deep sleep wordnet
- 4 A state of awareness, concentration, or focus that filters experience and information (for example, a state of meditation or possession by some being). countable
"And he became very hungry, and would have eaten; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance."
- 5 A genre of electronic dance music with a fast tempo, repetitive phrasing, and often a hypnotic effect. wordnet
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- 6 A state of low response to stimulus and diminished, narrow attention; particularly one induced by hypnosis. countable
- 7 a psychological state induced by (or as if induced by) a magical incantation wordnet
- 8 Ellipsis of trance music (“genre of electronic dance music”). abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, uncountable
- 1 To (cause to) be in a trance; to entrance. ambitransitive
"And there I left him tranced."
- 2 To walk heavily or with some difficulty; to tramp, to trudge. dialectal, intransitive
- 3 attract; cause to be enamored wordnet
- 4 To create in or via a trance. rare, transitive
"The Horned Toad (kɛŋkak) tranced the rivers into being. A bakɔh bird tranced the mountains. The Scrub Bulbul (ˀɛsˀããs) drilled fire into existence with its beak. And, finally, the Bronzed Black Drongo (tɛrhɛɛh) tranced the year […]"
- 5 To pass across or over; to traverse. dialectal, intransitive
"Trance the world o'er."
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- 6 To travel quickly over a long distance. dialectal, intransitive
- 1 France. derogatory, offensive
Example
More examples"He is wandering around in a trance."
Etymology
From Middle English traunce, from Anglo-Norman transe (“fear of coming evil; passage from life to death”), from transir (“to be numb with fear; to die, pass on”), from Latin trānseō (“to cross over”).
The verb is derived from Middle English traunce, trauncen, trancen (“to move about (?); to prance (?); to trample the ground”) (whence modern English trounce with the same senses, which see for more). The noun is probably derived from the verb.
Possibly a mix of trans + France.
Related phrases
More for "trance"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.