shape: [OE] Shape goes back ultimately to the prehistoric Germanic base *skap- ‘form, create’, which also produced German schaffen and Swedish skapa ‘create, make’. ‘Create’ seems to have been a secondary meaning of the base, evolving out of an earlier ‘chop or dig out’, which probably gave rise to English scoop. => scoop
shape (v.)
Old English scapan, past participle of scieppan "to create, form, destine" (past tense scop), from Proto-Germanic *skapjanan "create, ordain" (cognates: Old Norse skapa, Danish skabe, Old Saxon scapan, Old Frisian skeppa, Middle Dutch schappen "do, treat," Old High German scaffan, German schaffen "shape, create, produce"), from PIE root *(s)kep- a base forming words meaning "to cut, scrape, hack" (see scabies), which acquired broad technical senses and in Germanic a specific sense of "to create."
Old English scieppan survived into Middle English as shippen, but shape emerged as a regular verb (with past tense shaped) by 1500s. The old past participle form shapen survives in misshapen. Middle English shepster (late 14c.) "dressmaker, female cutter-out," is literally "shape-ster," from Old English scieppan.
Meaning "to form in the mind" is from late 14c. Phrase Shape up (v.) is literally "to give form to by stiff or solid material;" attested from 1865 as "progress;" from 1938 as "reform;" shape up or ship out is attested from 1956, originally U.S. military slang, with the sense being "do right or get shipped up to active duty."
shape (n.)
Old English sceap, gesceap "form; created being, creature; creation; condition; sex, genitalia," from root of shape (v.)). Meaning "contours of the body" is attested from late 14c. Meaning "condition, state" is first recorded 1865, American English. In Middle English, the word in plural also had a sense of "a woman's private parts." Shape-shifter attested from 1820. Out of shape "not in proper shape" is from 1690s. Shapesmith "one who undertakes to improve the form of the body" was used in 1715.
实用例句
1. The shirt's cuffs won't sag and lose their shape after washing.
这件衬衫的袖口洗后照样挺括，不变形。
来自柯林斯例句
2. She even had plastic surgery to change the shape of her nose.
为改变鼻子的形状，她甚至接受了整形手术。
来自柯林斯例句
3. Britain needs new leadership if she is to help shape Europe's future.
如果英国想要对欧洲未来的发展产生重要影响的话，就需要新的领导层。
来自柯林斯例句
4. These bras should be handwashed to help them keep their shape.
这些胸罩要手洗以保持不变形。
来自柯林斯例句
5. Taper the shape of your eyebrows towards the outer corners.
