Standard Lemma guide

shamanism

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈʃeɪmənɪzəm/
  • /ˈʃɑːmənɪzəm/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: SH EY1 M AH0 N IH2 Z AH0 M Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any of a range of traditional beliefs and practices concerned with communication with the spirit world.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

an animistic religion of northern Asia having the belief that the mediation between the visible and the spirit worlds is effected by shamans

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Asian shamanism

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: religion, faith, religious belief

3

noun

Meaning 3

any animistic religion similar to Asian shamanism (especially as practiced by certain Native American tribes)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: religion, faith, religious belief

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Tungusic *samān Evenki сама̄н (samān)bor. Russian шама́н (šamán)bor. German Schamanebor. English shaman Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English shamanism From shaman + -ism.

Across languages

Translations

57 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: sjamanisme — range of traditional beliefs
  • Arabic: شَامَانِيَّة (šāmāniyya) — range of traditional beliefs
  • Azerbaijani: şamanlıq — range of traditional beliefs
  • Basque: xamanismo — range of traditional beliefs
  • Belarusian: шамані́зм (šamanízm) — range of traditional beliefs
  • Bulgarian: шамани́зъм (šamanízǎm) — range of traditional beliefs
  • Catalan: xamanisme — range of traditional beliefs
  • Chinese Cantonese: 薩滿教 /萨满教 (saat3 mun5 gaau3) — range of traditional beliefs
  • Chinese Mandarin: 薩滿教 /萨满教 (sàmǎnjiào) — range of traditional beliefs
  • Czech: šamanismus — range of traditional beliefs
  • Danish: shamanisme — range of traditional beliefs
  • Dutch: sjamanisme — range of traditional beliefs
  • Esperanto: ŝamanismo — range of traditional beliefs
  • Estonian: šamanism — range of traditional beliefs
  • Faroese: shamanisma — range of traditional beliefs
  • Finnish: šamanismi — range of traditional beliefs
  • Finnish: shamanismi — range of traditional beliefs
  • French: chamanisme — range of traditional beliefs
  • Galician: xamanismo — range of traditional beliefs
  • Georgian: შამანიზმი (šamanizmi) — range of traditional beliefs
  • German: Schamanismus — range of traditional beliefs
  • Greek: σαμανισμός (samanismós) — range of traditional beliefs
  • Greenlandic: angakkoqarneq — range of traditional beliefs
  • Hindi: शैमेनिज़्म (śaimenizma) — range of traditional beliefs
  • Hindi: शैमेनिज्म (śaimenijma) — range of traditional beliefs
  • Hungarian: sámánizmus — range of traditional beliefs
  • Irish: seamanachas — range of traditional beliefs
  • Italian: sciamanesimo — range of traditional beliefs
  • Japanese: シャーマニズム (shāmanizumu) — range of traditional beliefs
  • Japanese: 巫術 (fujutsu) — range of traditional beliefs
  • Kazakh: бақсылық (baqsylyq) — range of traditional beliefs
  • Korean: 샤머니즘 (syameonijeum) — range of traditional beliefs
  • Macedonian: шамани́зам (šamanízam) — range of traditional beliefs
  • Maltese: xamaniżmu — range of traditional beliefs
  • Mongolian: бөө мөргөл (böö mörgöl) — range of traditional beliefs
  • Persian: شمنباوری (šaman-bâvari) — range of traditional beliefs
  • Polish: szamanizm — range of traditional beliefs
  • Portuguese: xamanismo — range of traditional beliefs
  • Quechua: paqu yachaq — range of traditional beliefs
  • Quechua: paqu hampiq — range of traditional beliefs
  • Romanian: șamanism — range of traditional beliefs
  • Russian: шамани́зм (šamanízm) — range of traditional beliefs
  • Serbo-Croatian: шаманизам — range of traditional beliefs
  • Serbo-Croatian: šamanizam — range of traditional beliefs
  • Slovak: šamanizmus — range of traditional beliefs
  • Slovene: šamanizem — range of traditional beliefs
  • Spanish: chamanismo — range of traditional beliefs
  • Swedish: schamanism — range of traditional beliefs
  • Tagalog: shamanismo — range of traditional beliefs
  • Telugu: షామానిజం (ṣāmānijaṁ) — range of traditional beliefs
  • Turkish: şamanizm — range of traditional beliefs
  • Turkish: kamlık — range of traditional beliefs
  • Ukrainian: шамані́зм (šamanízm) — range of traditional beliefs
  • Ukrainian: шама́нство (šamánstvo) — range of traditional beliefs
  • Urdu: شمن پرستی (śaman prastī) — range of traditional beliefs
  • Vietnamese: Saman giáo — range of traditional beliefs
  • Welsh: siamaniaeth — range of traditional beliefs