Shaman Definition

shämən, shā-
shamans
noun
shamans
A priest or medicine man, esp. among N Asian peoples, who is believed able to heal and to foretell the future through communication with good and evil spirits.
Webster's New World
A member of certain traditional societies, especially of northern Asia and of North and South America, who acts as a medium between the visible world and an invisible spirit world and who practices magic or sorcery for purposes of healing, divination, and control over natural events.
American Heritage Medicine

A traditional (prescientific) faith healer.

Wiktionary
Synonyms:

Other Word Forms of Shaman

Noun

Singular:
shaman
Plural:
shamans

Origin of Shaman

  • From German Schamane, from Russian шаман (Å¡amán), from Evenki шаман (Å¡amán). The Evenki word is probably ultimately derived from Pali समन (samana) from Sanskrit श्रमण (Å›ramaṇá, “ascetic, monk, devotee"), from श्रम (Å›ráma, “fatigue, weariness, exhaustion; labor, toil etc."). The Pali term may have entered Evenki through either Tocharian B á¹£amāne (“monk") or Chinese 沙門 (shāmén, “Buddhist monk").

    From Wiktionary

  • Russian from Evenki šaman Buddhist monk, shaman perhaps from Tocharian B ṭamāne monk from Prakrit (dialect of documents from the ancient city of Niya in the Taklimakan) ṭamana from Sanskrit śramaṇaḥ from śramaḥ religious exercise from śramati he toils, practices austerity

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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