Word.ws English Dictionary

forshape

forshape verb: to metamorphose; change the shape of; transform.

Verb

forshape (third-person singular simple present forshapes, present participle forshaping, simple past forshaped, past participle forshaped or forshapen)

  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 of forshape

third-person singular presentforshapes
present participleforshaping
pastforshaped
past participleforshaped
past participleforshapen

Origin of forshape

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”).

Questions about forshape

What does forshape mean?
Forshape means to metamorphose; change the shape of; transform.
What part of speech is forshape?
Forshape is a verb.
What is the past tense of forshape?
The past tense of forshape is forshaped.

Words near forshape in the dictionary

  1. forshaking
  2. forshame
  3. forshamed
  4. forshames
  5. forshaming
  6. forshape
  7. Forshaw
  8. Forshee
  9. Forshees
  10. Forshey
  11. Forsheys

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: forshape (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “forshape.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/forshape. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.