Etymograph

English

shape

Shape comes from Old English ġesceap ‘shape, creation’, from Proto-Germanic *gaskapą, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kep- ‘to split, cut’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kep-1‘to split, cut’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gaskapą1reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gaskap1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150ġesceap1‘shape, form; creation’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schap1
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1604shape1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English shape
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1603–1604, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice: “Oft my jealousy / Shapes faults that are not.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kep-Wiktionary, English shape‘to split, cut’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gaskapąWiktionary, English shapereconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gaskapWiktionary, English shapereconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150ġesceapWiktionary, English shape‘shape, form; creation’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schapWiktionary, English shape
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1604shapeWiktionary, English shape. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1603–1604, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice: “Oft my jealousy / Shapes faults that are not.”

The story

The noun is cognate with Middle Dutch schap (‘form’), Middle High German geschaf (‘creature’), Icelandic skap (‘state, condition, temper, mood’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with shape, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kep-

  • scoop ← scope ← scoep
  • comma ← κόμμα ← κόπτω ← *kopt͏̌ō
  • syncope ← συγκοπή ← συγκόπτω ← κόπτω ← *kopt͏̌ō

through Old English sċeap ‘sheep’

4 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

noun The status or condition of something

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “shape”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)kep- / shape