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trance

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trance¹

  • /tɹɑːns/ UK
  • /tɹæns/ US

Rhymes with -ɑːns, -æns

Where it comes from

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”).

noun trances · traunce

  1. countable A dazed or unconscious condition.
  2. countable A state of awareness, concentration, or focus that filters experience and information (for example, a state of meditation or possession by some being). And he became very hungry, and would have eaten; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance.
  3. countable A state of low response to stimulus and diminished, narrow attention; particularly one induced by hypnosis.
  4. abbreviation, ellipsis, uncountable Ellipsis of trance music (“genre of electronic dance music”).

verb trances · trancing · tranced

  1. ambitransitive To (cause to) be in a trance; to entrance. And there I left him tranced.
  2. rare, transitive To create in or via a trance. 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 […]

trance²

Where it comes from

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.

verb trances · trancing · tranced

  1. dialectal, intransitive To walk heavily or with some difficulty; to tramp, to trudge.

    Similar: trounce

  2. dialectal, intransitive To pass across or over; to traverse. Trance the world o'er.

    Similar: trounce

  3. dialectal, intransitive To travel quickly over a long distance.

    Similar: trounce

noun trances

  1. dialectal A tedious journey. So saying, he led the way out through halls and trances that were weel kend to my gudesire, and into the auld oak parlour; […]

    Similar: trounce

Trance³

Where it comes from

Possibly a mix of trans + France.

proper noun

  1. derogatory, offensive France.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: fascinate, enchantment, captivate, enchant, bewitch, becharm, charm, enamor, beguile, spell, catch, capture, entrance, enamour, reverie, dream

Translations

Every language

noun dazed or unconscious condition

Portuguêsdesmaio, transe
DeutschTrance
Русскийтранс

noun state of low response to stimulus and diminished, narrow attention

한국어트랜스 teuraenseu
Portuguêstontura, transe
DeutschTrance
Русскийтранс

noun such a state induced by hypnosis

한국어트랜스 teuraenseu
Portuguêshipnose, transe
DeutschTrance
Русскийтранс

noun genre of electronic dance music

Españoltrance
한국어트랜스 teuraenseu
日本語トランス toransu
中文勸世音樂 /劝世音乐 quànshì yīnyuè, 出神音樂 /出神音乐 chūshén yīnyuè, 傳思音樂 /传思音乐 chuánsī yīnyuè
हिन्दीट्रान्स ṭrāns
Portuguêstrance
Françaistrance
DeutschTrance
Italianotrance
Ελληνικάtrance, τρανς
Românătrance
Русскийтранс
Tiếng Việttrance
العربيةترانس
עבריתטראנס

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MLA

"trance." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/trance. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

trance. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/trance

Chicago

"trance." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/trance.

BibTeX
@misc{trance_2026,
  title = {trance},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/trance},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}