shaman
nounEtymology
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.
Definitions
A traditional faith healer.
A member of certain tribal societies who acts as a spiritual or religious medium between…
A member of certain tribal societies who acts as a spiritual or religious medium between the concrete and spirit worlds; sometimes also a healer.
- Near-synonyms: medicine man, medicine woman, priest-doctor, witch doctor
The neighborhood
Vish — recursive loop
No curated loop yet for shaman. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA