Trance Meaning
/tɹɑːns/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA dazed or unconscious condition.
nounA state of awareness, concentration, or focus that filters experience and information (for example, a state of meditation or possession by some being).
Sentence Examples
He is wandering around in a trance.
The hypnotist was able to put his subject into a trance.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The hypnotist put the volunteer into a deep ____ during the show.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He seemed to be in a ____ as he stared out of the window, lost in his own private and deep thoughts today.
Word Origin & History
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”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"And he became very hungry, and would have eaten; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance."
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 10:10:
"My soul was ravished quite as in a trance."
— 1595, Edmunde Spenser [i.e., Edmund Spenser], “[Amoretti.] Sonnet XXXIX”, in Amoretti and Epithalamion. […], London: […] [Peter Short] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC:
"And there I left him tranced."
— c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii]:
"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 […]"
— 2014, Geoffrey Benjamin, Temiar Religion, 1964-2012, page 64:
"What is interesting for us here is that Chingkai and her familiars dreamed and tranced the Temiar world into being. […]"
— 1995, Sue Jennings, Kevin Jennings, Theatre, Ritual, and Transformation: The Senoi Temiars, page 111:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The hypnotist put the volunteer into a deep ____ during the show.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He seemed to be in a ____ as he stared out of the window, lost in his own private and deep thoughts today.