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“s ance”
1. A meeting at which a spiritualist attempts to receive communications from the spirits of the dead: Bryan's neighbor was known to be a person who could get in touch with those who have died and relate messages to their living relatives. Seances, or gatherings in order to get in touch with relatives who passed away, were sometimes held at Bryan's neighbor's house.
2. A session, meeting, or sitting, as of a learned or legislative body: The last seance of the state legislature left many members still dissatisfied with the results of the presentations and the voting that took place later.
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2. A session, meeting, or sitting, as of a learned or legislative body: The last seance of the state legislature left many members still dissatisfied with the results of the presentations and the voting that took place later.
Historical background
The origin of the term séance comes from French séance, “seat, session”, from Old French seoir, “to sit”.
In French, as in English, séance came to be used specifically for a meeting of people to receive spiritualistic messages (a sense first recorded in English in 1845), but earlier in French and English, the word was used more generally for meetings.
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This entry is located in the following units:
-ance, -ancy
(page 12)
sed-, sedat-, -sid, -sess
(page 4)