\En"trance\, n. [OF. entrance, fr. OF. & F. entrant, p.
pr. of entrer to enter. See {Enter}.]
1. The act of entering or going into; ingress; as, the
   entrance of a person into a house or an apartment; hence,
   the act of taking possession, as of property, or of
   office; as, the entrance of an heir upon his inheritance,
   or of a magistrate into office.
2. Liberty, power, or permission to enter; as, to give
   entrance to friends. --Shak.
3. The passage, door, or gate, for entering.
         Show us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city.
                                               --Judg. i. 24.
4. The entering upon; the beginning, or that with which the
   beginning is made; the commencement; initiation; as, a
   difficult entrance into business. ``Beware of entrance to
   a quarrel.'' --Shak.
         St. Augustine, in the entrance of one of his
         discourses, makes a kind of apology.  --Hakewill.
5. The causing to be entered upon a register, as a ship or
   goods, at a customhouse; an entering; as, his entrance of
   the arrival was made the same day.
6. (Naut.)
   (a) The angle which the bow of a vessel makes with the
       water at the water line. --Ham. Nav. Encyc.
   (b) The bow, or entire wedgelike forepart of a vessel,
       below the water line. --Totten.

\En*trance"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Entranced}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Entrancing}.] [Pref. en- + trance.]
1. To put into a trance; to make insensible to present
   objects.
         Him, still entranced and in a litter laid, They bore
         from field and to the bed conveyed.   --Dryden.
2. To put into an ecstasy; to ravish with delight or wonder;
   to enrapture; to charm.
         And I so ravished with her heavenly note, I stood
         entranced, and had no room for thought. --Dryden.