séance

Forms

séance f (plural séances)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French séant + -ance, from the present participle of seoir (“to sit”).^[2][3][1][4] Picoche glosses it literally as “the fact of being seated”.^[5] The verb is from Latin sedeō (“to sit”).^[6][5] Wiktionary compares a Latin sedentia.^[1]

The dictionaries date the word differently: the TLFi and the DHLF from 1266, the GLLF from Thibaut de Champagne (before 1253), Bloch and Wartburg from 1538, and the Grand Robert and the Petit Robert from 1594 for the modern senses.^{[2][7][8][6][3][9]}

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the phrase en se seance “at his pleasure” in the Vers de la Mort (1266), from a first sense “suitability, convenience”.^[2][7] The phrase is found until the end of the 14th century, in Froissart's à nostre séance et volonté.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Old French séance also meant “situation”, and à la séance de qqn “as it suits someone” (about 1310) lasted into the 17th century as selon la séance.^[7] In 1356 the word took the sense still usual today, a meeting of the members of an assembly.^[2][7] In classical French it also meant “the fact of being seated” (about 1550), “the right to sit in an assembly” (1580), whence avoir séance (1594), and the seat of a magistrate (1602).^[7]

By extension it came to mean the length of a meeting (1636), time spent at table or at play (1694), and then a period given to some work (about 1784), especially a sitting for a painter (1800–1803).^[2][7][8] Séance tenante “during the meeting” (1802) became a figurative adverb “at once” (1835).^[2][7] Before 1880 the word was used of the time given to a show or entertainment, a use that spread with the cinema.^[7][8]

Timeline

• 1266 – En se seance “at his pleasure” appears in the Vers de la Mort.^[2][7]
• 1356 – First used for a meeting of an assembly.^[2][7]
• c. 1550 – Used for “the fact of being seated”.^[7]
• 1594 – Avoir séance “to sit (in an assembly)” is recorded.^[7][3]
• 1636 – Monet records it for the length of a meeting.^[2]
• 1694 – The Académie records faire une longue seance at table or at play.^[2]
• c. 1784 – Used for a period given to some work.^[7][8]
• 1802 – Laveaux records séance tenante.^[2]
• 1803 – Boiste records the sense “sitting for a painter”.^[2]
• 1835 – Séance tenante is used figuratively for “at once”.^[7][8]
• before 1880 – Flaubert uses it for a show or entertainment.^[8][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated) The right to sit in an assembly: avoir séance, prendre séance.^[9][2]
2. A session or meeting of an assembly, council or court, and its duration: la séance est ouverte, la séance est levée.^[9][10]
3. Séance tenante: during the meeting, and figuratively, at once, on the spot.^[9][2]
4. A period given to an activity done with one or more other people: séance de pose, a sitting for a painter;^[9][2] Elle a deux séances de rééducation par semaine.^[9][2]
5. A show or screening, especially at the cinema: la dernière séance.^[9][7]
6. (familiar) A scene made by someone who behaves strangely or unbearably: Il nous a fait toute une séance hier soir.^[9]

Related words

• séant
• seoir
• préséance
• surséance
• bienséance
• Latin sedeō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 11, 393b
5. ^ a b Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette