séance

noun

sé·​ance ˈsā-ˌän(t)s How to pronounce séance (audio)
-ˌäⁿs,
sā-ˈän(t)s,
-ˈäⁿs
1
2
: a spiritualist meeting to receive spirit communications

Examples of séance in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Despite Lazlo’s scientific protestations, the vampires are forced to perform a seance to remove a ghost infestation, only to be haunted afterwards by their human selves and/or a serious lack of updog. Proma Khosla, IndieWire, 29 Oct. 2024 Readings start at 5:30pm Tuesday, with the first seance at 6:30pm. Lindsey Erdody, Axios, 21 Oct. 2024 Tomato Soup With Ghost Toasts Should your preference for spooky treats lean more savory, host a soup seance. Stephanie Breijo, Los Angeles Times, 20 Oct. 2024 The girls then reportedly contacted a medium to perform a seance, which determined that the Raggedy Ann doll was inhabited by the spirit of Annabelle Higgins, a young girl who resided on the property but died at age 7, long before the current apartment block was erected. Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 6 Oct. 2024 In the wake of the 2014 story, the home was the target of vandalism and seances after drawing national attention. Joe Mutascio, The Indianapolis Star, 10 Sep. 2024 Otho takes the lead in holding seances to bring the dead back to life as an entertainment ploy. Lisa Stardust, Peoplemag, 6 Sep. 2024 But Wilson was keen to find individuals who strived to make serious, meaningful connections with their clients — many of whom already knew each other and would regularly meet for group seances. J. Kim Murphy, Variety, 4 Sep. 2024 Join us in a sunshine seance by scrolling on to shop one (or all) of the special spring-occasion candles ahead. Elizabeth Buxton, refinery29.com, 13 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'séance.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

French, from Middle French, from seoir to sit, assemble, from Old French, from Latin sedēre — more at sit

First Known Use

1803, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of séance was in 1803

Dictionary Entries Near séance

Cite this Entry

“Séance.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/s%C3%A9ance. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

séance

noun
sé·​ance ˈsā-ˌän(t)s How to pronounce séance (audio)
1
: a meeting for discussion : session
2
: a meeting to receive the communications of spirits
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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