Dictionary

forshape en · VERB

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”).

Meanings

1. (obsolete, transitive) To metamorphose; change the shape of; transform.
   • 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. (obsolete, transitive) To put out of shape; distort; make misshapen; disfigure.

Forms