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Origin and history of seance

seance(n.)

1789, "a sitting, a session," as of a learned society, originally in French contexts, from French séance "a sitting," from seoir "to sit," from Latin sedere "to sit" (from PIE root *sed- (1) "to sit"). Meaning "spiritualistic session in which intercourse is alleged to be held with ghosts of the dead" is recorded by 1845.

also from 1789

Entries linking to seance

*sed-(1)

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to sit."

It might form all or part of: assess; assiduous; assiento; assize; banshee; beset; cathedra; cathedral; chair; cosset; dissident; dodecahedron; Eisteddfod; ephedra; ephedrine; ersatz; icosahedron; inset; insidious; nest; niche; nick (n.) "notch, groove, slit;" nidicolous; nidification; nidus; obsess; octahedron; piezo-; piezoelectric; polyhedron; possess; preside; reside; saddle; sanhedrim; seance; seat; sedan; sedate; (adj.) "calm, quiet;" sedative; sedentary; sederunt; sediment; see (n.) "throne of a bishop, archbishop, or pope;" sessile; session; set (v.); sett; settle (n.); settle (v.); siege; sit; sitz-bath; sitzkrieg; size; soil (n.1) "earth, dirt;" Somerset; soot; subside; subsidy; supersede; surcease; tanist; tetrahedron; Upanishad.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit a-sadat "sat down," sidati "sits," nidah "resting place, nest;" Old Persian hadis "abode;" Greek ezesthai "to sit," hedra "seat, chair, face of a geometric solid;" Latin sedere "to sit; occupy an official seat, preside; sit still, remain; be fixed or settled," nidus "nest;" Old Irish suide "seat, sitting," net "nest;" Welsh sedd "seat," eistedd "sitting," nyth "nest;" Old Church Slavonic sežda, sedeti "to sit," sedlo "saddle," gnezdo "nest;" Lithuanian sėdėti "to sit;" Russian sad "garden," Lithuanian sodinti "to plant;" Gothic sitan, Old English sittan "to sit."

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    Trends of seance

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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    sitting
    c. 1200, "act or practice of dwelling;" mid-14c., "act of sitting down; fact of being seated," verbal noun from sit (v.). The meaning "a session of a court" is from mid-14c.; that of "a meeting of a body for discussion or transaction of business" is from c. 1400. The meaning "int
    session
    late 14c., sessioun, "periodical sitting of a court," from Old French session "act or state of sitting; assembly," from Latin sessionem (nominative sessio) "act of sitting; a seat; loitering; a session," noun of action from past-participle stem of sedere "to sit" (from PIE root *
    meeting
    "an action of coming together," Old English meting "assembly," verbal noun from meet (v.). Specific meaning "gathering of people for discussion, etc." is from 1510s. In 17c., in England and Ireland it was applied generally to worship assemblies of nonconformists, but this now is
    intimate
    1630s, "closely acquainted, very familiar," also "inmost, intrinsic," from Late Latin intimatus, past participle of intimare "make known, announce, impress," from Latin intimus "inmost, innermost, deepest" (adj.), also used figuratively, of affections, feelings, and as a noun, "c
    delight
    c. 1200, delit, "high degree of pleasure or satisfaction," also "that which gives great pleasure," from Old French delit "pleasure, delight, sexual desire," from delitier "please greatly, charm," from Latin delectare "to allure, delight, charm, please," frequentative of delicere
    hoedown
    "noisy dance," 1841, Southern U.S., apparently originally the name of a specific dance, perhaps from perceived similarity of dance motions to those of farm chores, hence from hoe (n.). The step of every negro dance that was ever known, was called into requisition and admirably e
    perfection
    early 13c., perfeccioun, "consummate state or form, that degree of excellence which leaves nothing to be desired," from Old French perfection "perfection, completeness" (12c.), from Latin perfectionem (nominative perfectio) "a finishing, completing, perfection," noun of action fr
    Alexander
    masc. proper name, from Latin, from Greek Alexandros "defending men," from alexein "to ward off, keep off, turn (something) away, defend, protect" + anēr (genitive andros) "man" (from PIE root *ner- (2) "man"). The first element perhaps is related to Greek alke "protection, help,
    make-up
    also makeup, "manner in which something is put together," 1821, from the verbal phrase (see make (v.) + up (adv.)). To make up as "build, collect into one form by bringing together" is from late 14c., also "prepare." It is attested from late 15c. as "supply as an equivalent," fro
    labyrinth
    c. 1400, laberynthe (late 14c. in Latinate form laborintus) "labyrinth, maze, great building with many corridors and turns," figuratively "bewildering arguments," from Latin labyrinthus, from Greek labyrinthos "maze, large building with intricate passages," especially the structu

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