Shaping

How to spell shaping

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce shaping

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does shaping mean?

1. verbGiving a particular form, structure, or character to something.

Shaping in a sentence

• The potter spent the afternoon shaping a tall vase on the wheel.

• New tax rules are shaping the way the company plans its budget.

Where does shaping come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The word descends from the Old English noun 'gesceap', meaning a form, creation, or created thing, and the related verb 'scieppan', meaning 'to create' or 'to form'. These came from a Germanic root tied to the idea of making and fashioning, and the same family lies behind the modern noun 'shape' itself. Over the medieval period the strong old verb was gradually regularised, and the gerund and participle 'shaping' became the ordinary way to describe the ongoing act of giving form to something. A telltale spelling point survives from that history: the silent final 'e' of 'shape' is dropped before the '-ing' ending, which is why the word is 'shaping' and not 'shapeing'. The original sense of bringing something into being still echoes whenever we talk about shaping clay, shaping policy, or shaping a young mind.

How the word is built

• shape (form, from Old English sceap)
• -ing (present participle/gerund suffix)