the general name applied to the religion of the inhabitants of northern Siberia, 1780, from shaman (q.v.) + -ism. Related: Shamanistic.
Entries linking to shamanism
shaman n.
1690s, "priest of the Ural-Altaic peoples of northern Asia," probably via German Schamane, from Russian sha'man, from Tungus saman, which, according to OED is perhaps from Chinese sha men "Buddhist monk," from Prakrit samaya-, from Sanskrit sramana-s "Buddhist ascetic." Extended to "similar personages in other parts" (OED), especially native Americans. Related: Shamanic.
-ism
word-forming element making nouns implying a practice, system, doctrine, etc., from French -isme or directly from Latin -isma, -ismus (source also of Italian, Spanish -ismo, Dutch, German -ismus), from Greek -ismos, noun ending signifying the practice or teaching of a thing, from the stem of verbs in -izein, a verb-forming element denoting the doing of the noun or adjective to which it is attached. For distinction of use, see -ity. The related Greek suffix -isma(t)- affects some forms.