세습무

Korean

Etymology

Sino-Korean word from 世襲 (“hereditary”) + 巫 (“shaman”).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ˈsʰe̞(ː)sʰɯmmu]
• Phonetic hangul: [세(ː)슴무]
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	seseummu
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	seseubmu
McCune–Reischauer?	sesŭmmu
Yale Romanization?	sēysupmu

Noun

세습무 • (seseummu) (hanja 世襲巫)

1. (shamanism, academic) a type of village priest in Korean shamanism (Korea's indigenous religion) traditionally found in southern Korea, who inherit their position within priestly lineages and do not have any personal contact with the divine, in contrast to trance-possession shamans of the north who are personally, directly selected by the gods to serve as their oracles; today mostly displaced by the latter even in South Korea

   Synonym: 단골 (dan'gol)

   Hypernyms: 무속인(巫俗人) (musogin), 무당(巫堂) (mudang); see also Thesaurus:무속인

   Coordinate term: 강신무(降神巫) (gangsinmu, “trance-possession shaman”)