Reshaping

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Changing the form or structure of something to create a different shape
2. Altering the contours or arrangement of an object to produce a new configuration
3. Modifying the shape or pattern of an item to give it a refreshed or different appearance

Etymology: Reshaping is a plain formation: the prefix "re-" meaning "again" or "back" attached to "shape," with the "-ing" ending that turns it into a verb form. The interesting part is what sits underneath. "Shape" traces back through Middle English "schape" and Old English "sċeap" to a Proto-Germanic root "skēpą," a word for creating or ordering something, which also gave rise to the English "shape" in its sense of giving form to material. The "re-" prefix has its own longer history. It descends from a Proto-Italic root and reached English through Latin "re-" and Old French "re-," so it arrived carrying the sense of repetition that it still has. Put together, "reshape" literally means to shape something once more, and the Old English ancestor of "shape" was already a word for forming or fashioning matter.

Synonyms: reforming, remodeling, restructuring

Antonyms: maintaining, preserving