Etymology - Trance

I'm about to start studying the “storytelling trance” as it has sometimes been called, so it seems worth exploring the roots of the word.

Unsurprised to discover it was another word with its roots in old French, I was surprised to find that the original meanings are tied up with death – more specifically the passage between life and death. It also carries meaning of apprehension of evil, and links to Latin Transir of to cross or go over. From the 14th century through to the 19th it has been used both for a completey insensible state and for a state between sleeping and waking (the latter hopefully being more relevant to storytelling!). Associations with rapture, ecstasy emerge from mid 15th century onwards. Its usage as a verb is now most common in relation to putting someone into a trance, but obsolete usages included dieing, fainting and being in extreme dread.