Word
shaman
US/ˈʃeɪmən/
UK/ʃˈæmən/
Definition
n. a person in some cultures who is believed to have special powers to heal people and talk to spirits. They often use rituals or music to help their community.
n. a religious or spiritual practitioner who acts as an intermediary between the human and spirit worlds. Typically associated with indigenous cultures, the role involves performing rituals for healing, divination, or community protection.
Examples
“The village shaman performed a healing ceremony.”
“Anthropologists spent months studying how the shaman used rhythmic drumming to enter a trance state during communal rituals.”
“While modern medicine has reached the remote valley, many residents still consult the local shaman for spiritual guidance and traditional herbal remedies during times of crisis.”
Examples
simple
“The village shaman performed a healing ceremony.”
contextual
“Anthropologists spent months studying how the shaman used rhythmic drumming to enter a trance state during communal rituals.”
complex
“While modern medicine has reached the remote valley, many residents still consult the local shaman for spiritual guidance and traditional herbal remedies during times of crisis.”
Usage
The plural form is 'shamans', not 'shamen'.
Pitfall
The village shamen
The village shamans
The word is not an English compound of 'man'; the plural is formed by adding 's'.
Real-World Examples
“The king's daughter Princess Märtha Louise initially married a Norwegian writer before controversially remarrying an American self-styled shaman in 2024.” “Depictions of humans were rare in Paleolithic times, but some scholars have speculated that the figure could have represented a shaman wearing a hide.” Etymology
Borrowed from German Schamane, from Russian шама́н (šamán), from Evenki шама̄н (şamān), сама̄н (samān), from Proto-Tungusic *samān. The Evenki word is possibly derived from the root ша- (şa-, “to know”); or else a loanword from Tocharian B ṣamāne (“monk”) or Chinese 沙門 /沙门 (shāmén, “Buddhist monk”), from Pali samaṇa from Sanskrit श्रमण (śramaṇa, “ascetic, monk, devotee”), from श्रम (śrama, “weariness, exhaustion; labor, toil; etc.”), which would make this a doublet of sramana.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/shaman