Forshape

verb

verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To metamorphose; change the shape of; transform. obsolete, transitive

    "late 14th century, John Gower, Confessio Amantis Unkindelich he was transformed, That he which erst a man was formed, Into a woman was forshape, That was to him an angry jape."

  2. 2
    To put out of shape; distort; make misshapen; disfigure. obsolete, transitive

Synonyms

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Example

More examples

"late 14th century, John Gower, Confessio Amantis Unkindelich he was transformed, That he which erst a man was formed, Into a woman was forshape, That was to him an angry jape."

Etymology

From Middle English forshapen, forschapen (“to transform”), from Old English forsċieppan, forsċeppan (“to transform”), from Proto-West Germanic *fraskappjan, equivalent to for- + shape. Cognate with German verschaffen (“to provide, supply, furnish”), Swedish förskapa (“to cut out”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.