ˈsāˌän(t)s sometimes (ˈ)sā|äⁿs noun
( -s )
Etymology: French, literally, sitting, from seoir to sit (from Latin sedēre ) + -ance — more at sit
: sitting: as
a. : a coming together or session (as of a public body, a learned society, a class) for a particular purpose (as deliberation, discussion, recitation)
b. : a meeting for the purpose of receiving spirit communications
the ancestral … ghost talked at a séance — Times Literary Supplement
c. : a sitting for a portrait