A Trance Is a Crossing Over
A trance is a half-conscious state. The Latin root means to pass across, and the word first described the passage between life and death.
A trance is a state between waking and sleeping, in which someone is unresponsive to their surroundings. The Latin *transire* means to go across, and the first English uses referred to the passage from life towards death — a trance was a swoon in which the soul seemed to be crossing over. The same verb gives *transit*, *transient* and *transition*.
- A half-conscious state. *She fell into a trance.*
- Deep absorption. *He watched in a trance.*
- A style of electronic music. *Trance music.*
- Entranced — captivated. *Entranced by the view.*
- Trance-like — resembling one. *A trance-like calm.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | trance | A deep trance. |
| Plural | trances | Repeated trances. |
| Verb | entrance | It entranced them. |
| Adjective | entranced | Entranced children. |
| Related | transient | A transient state. |
- He sat in a trance for an hour.Absorption.
- The audience was entranced.The verb, stress on the second syllable.
- Trance emerged from house music in the 1990s.Music.
Entrance, two words
- ENtrance — a way in, stress on the first syllable
- enTRANCE — to captivate, stress on the second
- Different roots — the door word is from *enter*, the spell word from *trance*
- A heteronym — same spelling, different sound and meaning
- Others — lead and lead, wind and wind, tear and tear
Old French *transe*, a passage or fear of coming evil, from *transir*, to pass on or die, from Latin *transire*. English has used it since the 1300s.
Are the two entrances related?
No. The doorway comes from enter; the verb meaning to captivate is built on trance. They are pronounced differently.
Did trance once mean dying?
The earliest English uses describe a swoon thought to be a passage towards death, from the Latin verb meaning to pass across.