shaman

Etymology

It is borrowed from German Schamane and partly directly borrowed from Russian шаман (šaman),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} and the OED notes that the German word is recorded first, in the source of the English text of 1698, while the Russian word is first attested later, by 1755.^[2] The Russian is from Evenki шама̄н (šamān), also сама̄н (samān),^[6] the word in Evenki, one of the Tungusic languages of northern Siberia and Manchuria, which older dictionaries call Tungus.^[2][7][8][5] It comes from a Tungusic base shared with Even, Nanai and Manchu.^[2] Its further origin is uncertain: it may come from the Evenki root ша- (ša-, “to know”),^[1] or, as several dictionaries suggest, from Buddhist vocabulary, perhaps through Tocharian B ṣamāne (“monk”)^[9] or Chinese 沙門 (shāmén, “Buddhist monk”),^[10][5] from Pali samaṇa (“Buddhist monk”),^[8][11] from Sanskrit श्रमण (śramaṇa, “Buddhist ascetic”),^[9][8][7] from श्रम (śrama, “exertion, religious exercise”).^[8][7] Compare Dutch sjamaan, recorded in 1692, and French chaman, recorded in 1699.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A priest or healer among the peoples of Siberia: 1698, in the English translation of A. Brand's account of a Russian embassy to China.^[2][7][8]

Semantic evolution

At first the word named the priest-healers of the Tungus and other peoples of northern Asia,^[2][10][12] who were believed to reach and influence the world of spirits.^[2][4] It was then extended to similar figures elsewhere, especially among Native Americans.^[10][11][4] It was used as an adjective from 1780,^[2] and since 1927 it has also been used figuratively for a person seen as having special, almost mystical knowledge in some field.^[2]

Timeline

• 1698 – a priest or healer among peoples of Siberia.^[2][7][8]
• 1780 – adjective, of a shaman or shamanism.^[2]
• 1927 – figurative, a person with special or arcane knowledge.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A priest or healer, especially among peoples of northern Asia, believed to contact the spirit world and to cure the sick, discover hidden things and influence events through magic.^[8][2][11]
2. A similar medicine man or woman among other peoples, especially Native Americans.^[11][4][10]
3. A person regarded as having special, almost mystical knowledge or influence in a field: a shaman of the stock market.^[2]

Adjective

1. Of or relating to a shaman or to shamanism.^[2][8]

Word family

• shamanic
• shamanism

Related words

• sramana

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press