One who can interact and mediate with the spirit world on behalf of their community, usualy by exctatic trance techniques ( That is their spirit/soul leaves their physical body in order to travel to a world of pure spirit rather than physical matter) for the purposes of divination, information gathering, healing and to recieve wisdom.
Believed to come from the Tungus word "saman" meaning (very roughly)holder of knowledge.
Some anthropologists maintain that shaman are the basis of most magician/sorceror archetypes in folklore.
In modern times the word is overused, and seems to have become , in the minds of the modern illiterate, purely connected with various character classes in computer RolePlaying Games.
In Modern Siberia, Mongolia, and amongst the Sami the role of the shaman is undergoing something of a renaissance.
by Kynth December 1, 2007
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A spiritual leader of a (mostly tribal) nation or people.
A shaman has the duties of contacting spirits, foretelling the future, healing and etc.
They can be found in central asia and siberia either at the turkic or mongolic people and in north america with the natives.
The Nogai and Altaic Turkics are one of the few shamanistic that are left in central asia.
by Mehmet Baba April 24, 2007
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1) A tribal spiritual leader. Comes from a Siberian term and has no linguistic relation to "man." The female version is "shamanka."

2) A multi-purpose hybrid class in World of Warcraft. Can heal and cast elemental spells, and is fairly durable. Originally only available to the Horde—intended as a counterpart to the Alliance's paladins—but this changed with the release of the Burning Crusade expansion.
1) He claims to be a genuine Lakota shaman.
2) WTF? Some draenei shaman just ganked me in Hillsbrad!
by Qit el-Remel March 23, 2008
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An extremely overpowered class in world of warcraft. If you go near one you may instantly combust due to their constant spamming of their "I-win-button", frost shock. Avoidance of these vessels of mass destruction and power is strongly advised.
"That shaman has no skill, he friggin ran up to me and FS me off my mount!!"
by Oak March 25, 2005
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That shaman just purged my buffs and rank 1 frost shocked me to death!
by koalaroo February 29, 2008
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A word commonly referred to in World of Warcraft, a popular MMORPG. The class is disputed daily for being overpowered and unbalanced.
If one is to play this incredible game, it is highly encouraged to avoid a Shaman at all costs.
"Nerf shamans!"
"How come Shamans get better heals than Paladins?"
"/cry"
by Justin V July 26, 2005
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Class that all Ally Noobs whine about in MMORPG World of Warcraft.
Allynoob1: Damn i got pwned by that shaman.
Allynoob2: Man im re rolling horde cuz im so sick of bein pwned by shamans.
by onemic September 7, 2006
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