Skip to content
ontologydriven
Sign out

Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

shapeshift en · VERB

Pronunciation

  • (Southern-England) audio
  • (US) audio
  • /ˈʃeɪp.ʃɪft/

Etymology

Probably a back-formation from shapeshifter.

Meanings

  1. (intransitive) To change one's shape or form (into another) through often magical means, normally applied only to living beings.
    • For it was by shape-shifting and magic art, as poets tell, that Paris first beguiled Fair Helen. 1891, H. Rider Haggard and Andrew Lang, The World's Desire, volume II, Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, page 13:
    • Journey in exactly the same way as you did to shapeshift into your power animal except, this time, set your intention to shapeshift into a named ancestor. 2010, Mike Williams, Follow the Shaman's Call: An Ancient Path for Modern Lives, page 91:
    • But to embed oneself in an irregular and unpredictable food supply as mycelium does, one must be able to shapeshift. 2020, Merlin Sheldrake, Entangled Life, page 57:
    • I can't shapeshift Zane, I only look like this I always have. 2019, Emily Rayven, Gateway To Brienka:
  2. (figuratively, intransitive) To undergo a noticeable change (in character for example), to metamorphosize.
    • While Chelsea Wolfe has often shapeshifted in terms of how she presents her music, one thing remains constant: her big mood. 2019, Adam Turner-Heffer, Chelsea Wolfe: Birth of Violence review, The Skinny, September 2019, page 57

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
shapeshifted Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
shapeshifted Tense=Past lexicographic
shapeshifting Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
shapeshifts Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic

Translations (11)

nl transfigureren (change shape) · enm transformen (change shape) · de sich verwandeln (change shape) · fi muuttaa muotoa (change shape) · nl metamorfoseren (change shape) · de seine Form ändern (change shape) · cmn 变身 (change shape) · cmn 變身 /变身 (change shape) · nl gedaante wisselen (change shape) · pl zmienić kształt (change shape) · pl zmieniać kształt (change shape)