shaman

Definition of Shaman

(noun) A religious specialist with direct access and influence over supernatural power that typically uses magic or sorcery for controlling the environment, divination or healing purposes.

Example of Shaman

• A medicine person in Native American cultures such as the Cherokee Nation.
  

Shaman Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: sha·man

Audio Pronunciation

International Phonetic Alphabet

• American English – /ˈʃeɪmən/
• British English – /ˈʃeɪmən/

Usage Notes

• Plural: shamans
• The difference between a shaman and a priest is that a shaman’s role is often performed part time and with direct access or control of supernatural power and a priest’s role is often full time, but lacking direct control over supernatural power, acting only as an intermediary.
• The roles of shamans and specific names for shamans (e.g., medicine man) change according to culture and society, thus a single definition cannot capture the continuum of shamans or shamanism.
• Also called:
  • medicine man (medicine-man) or medicine woman (medicine-woman).
  • priest doctor (priest-doctor)
  • witch doctor (witch-doctor)
• A (noun) shaman practices or (verb) shamanizes (noun) shamanism using (adjective) shamanic methods.

Additional Information

• Religion Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
• Word origin of “shaman” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com

Related Terms

• belief system
• force
• magic
• mantra
• personified supernatural force
• polytheism
• prayer
• priest
• religion
• supernatural
• totemism

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Cite the Definition of Shaman

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “shaman.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved January 16, 2025 (https://sociologydictionary.org/shaman/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

shaman. (2014). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/shaman/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “shaman.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed January 16, 2025. https://sociologydictionary.org/shaman/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“shaman.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2014. Web. 16 Jan. 2025. <https://sociologydictionary.org/shaman/>.