session

[sesh-uh n] /ˈsɛʃ ən/
noun
1.
the sitting together of a court, council, legislature, or the like, for conference or the transaction of business:
Congress is now in session.
2.
a single continuous sitting, or period of sitting, of persons so assembled.
3.
a continuous series of sittings or meetings of a court, legislature, or the like.
4.
the period or term during which such a series is held.
5.
sessions, (in English law) the sittings or a sitting of justices in court, usually to deal with minor offenses, grant licenses, etc.
6.
a single continuous course or period of lessons, study, etc., in the work of a day at school:
two afternoon sessions a week.
7.
a portion of the year into which instruction is organized at a college or other educational institution.
8.
the governing body of a local Presbyterian church, composed of the pastor who moderates and the elders.
9.
a period of time during which a group of persons meets to pursue a particular activity:
A few of the kids got together for a study session.
Origin
1350-1400; Middle English < Medieval Latin sessiōn- (stem of sessiō) law-court sitting, Latin: sitting, equivalent to sess(us) (past participle of sedēre to sit1) + -iōn- -ion
Related forms
sessional, adjective
presession, noun
Can be confused
cession, secession, session.
Examples from the web for session
  • The panel is meeting for its third and final session this week.
  • Another version of the debate over science played out beyond that session.
  • They were not expected to attend the session when the amendment bill was introduced.
  • It took over three hours for this photography session.
  • Actors will put participants through a training session based on the actual manual used.
  • Silent retreats are a specialty, and many include an intro session for anyone who's new to this whole stillness thing.
  • My heart goes out to them, but a course in military history is not an appropriate place for a therapy session.
  • Dancers at an all-night tango session take a breather.
  • But he is also a highly regarded blues, rock and jazz artist considered a solid songwriter and session musician.
  • He shows us how to do a street-studio portrait session with a sheet of white paper, some tape, and a camera.
British Dictionary definitions for session

session

/ˈsɛʃən/
noun
1.
the meeting of a court, legislature, judicial body, etc, for the execution of its function or the transaction of business
2.
a single continuous meeting of such a body
3.
a series or period of such meetings
4.
(education)
  1. the time during which classes are held
  2. a school or university term or year
5.
(Presbyterian Church) the judicial and administrative body presiding over a local congregation and consisting of the minister and elders
6.
a meeting of a group of musicians to record in a studio
7.
a meeting of a group of people to pursue an activity
8.
any period devoted to an activity
9.
See Court of Session
Derived Forms
sessional, adjective
sessionally, adverb
Word Origin
C14: from Latin sessiō a sitting, from sedēre to sit
Word Origin and History for session
n.

late 14c., "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" (see sedentary). Sense of "period set aside for some activity" is first recorded 1920, in bull session, probably from quarter sessions courts (see quarter (n.)). Musical sense of "recording occasion in a studio" is from 1927.

Slang definitions & phrases for session

session

modifier

: He used to do a lot of session playing but hardly ever worked for an audience

noun
  1. A dance or party; hop (1950s+ Teenagers)
  2. The period of intoxication from a dose of narcotics, esp of LSD; trip (1960s+ Narcotics)
  3. An occasion at which a recording is made in a studio; a studio rehearsal or performance: Horn is from an earlier session (1927+ Musicians)
Related Terms

bitch session, bull session, gripe session, hash session, jam session, rap session, skull session


session in Technology

networking
1. A lasting connection between a user (or user agent) and a peer, typically a server, usually involving the exchange of many packets between the user's computer and the server. A session is typically implemented as a layer in a network protocol (e.g. telnet, FTP).
In the case of protocols where there is no concept of a session layer (e.g. UDP) or where sessions at the session layer are generally very short-lived (e.g. HTTP), virtual sessions are implemented by having each exchange between the user and the remote host include some form of cookie which stores state (e.g. a unique session ID, information about the user's preferences or authorisation level, etc.).
See also login.
2. A lasting connection using the session layer of a networking protocol.
(1997-08-03)

Idioms and Phrases with session

session

see: bull session