# shaman

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈʃɑːmən/ · frequency rank #21,932

## Definitions
1. A traditional faith healer.
2. A member of certain tribal societies who acts as a spiritual or religious medium between the concrete and spirit worlds; sometimes also a healer.

## 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.

## Easily confused with
- **shan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaman-vs-shan)
- **shame** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaman-vs-shame)
- **Shawn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaman-vs-shawn)
- **Shaun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaman-vs-shaun)
- **Shams** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaman-vs-shams)
- **Shana** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaman-vs-shana)
- **Sharon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaman-vs-sharon)
- **Sharma** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaman-vs-sharma)
- **shamed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaman-vs-shamed)
- **shazam** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaman-vs-shazam)
- **shaven** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaman-vs-shaven)
- **Shimon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaman-vs-shimon)
- **Sherman** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaman-vs-sherman)
- **shaming** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaman-vs-shaming)
- **shamans** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaman-vs-shamans)
- **showman** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaman-vs-showman)
- **sham** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sham-vs-shaman)
- **Satan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/satan-vs-shaman)
- **Saban** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/saban-vs-shaman)
- **Sagan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sagan-vs-shaman)

## Common misspellings (9)
`hsaman`, `sahman`, `shaamn`, `shamann`, `shamman`, `shamna`, `shhaman`, `shmaan`, `sshaman`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/shaman