Etymograph

English

trance

Trance comes from Anglo-Norman transe ‘fear of coming evil’, from Latin trānseō ‘to cross over’, and ultimately from eō ‘go’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEeō1‘go’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrānseō2‘to cross over’
  3. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400transe2‘fear of coming evil’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500traunce2
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1595trance2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin transeo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English trance
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1595, Edmunde Spenser [i.e., [Amoretti.] Sonnet XXXIX: “My soul was ravished quite as in a trance.”.

Earlier history not traced here. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEeōWiktionary, Latin transeo‘go’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrānseōWiktionary, English trance‘to cross over’
  3. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400transeWiktionary, English trance‘fear of coming evil’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500traunceWiktionary, English trance
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1595tranceWiktionary, English trance. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1595, Edmunde Spenser [i.e., [Amoretti.] Sonnet XXXIX: “My soul was ravished quite as in a trance.”

Linked words

through Latin eō ‘go’

issue, initial, exit, ambitious, transition, ambition, ambient, obituary, eyre, sedition, seditious, ambit, obit, transitive, praetor, ambiance, 24 more

through Latin trānseō ‘to cross over’

transient, transitory, 4 more

through Middle English traunce

trounce

Another origin of trance

  1. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400traunce
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500traunce‘a trance or faint’
  3. Englishtodaytrance

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.

Today it means

noun A dazed or unconscious condition.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “trance”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin transeo. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin eō / trance

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