Schaplynesse

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Archaic quality of being becoming, proper, and fitting in appearance or behaviour, as judged by accepted standards of decency
2. An old-fashioned term for the propriety and comeliness that make a person or thing seem appropriate and suitable
3. The seemly, orderly fitness of something in form or manner, the sort of decorum that was once expected of people

Etymology: The word looks like a spelling of "shapeliness" or a close relative, built from the Middle English "schape" (shape) and the suffix "-nesse," which turned adjectives and nouns into names for a quality or state. Spellings with "sch-" and "-nesse" are typical of late Middle English and Scots manuscripts, where scribes varied widely, so the same word could appear with several different spellings. The suffix itself comes from Old English "-nes," which is why English words like "goodness" and "darkness" share this ending. Because the word is rare, its exact sense and first recorded use are uncertain, and its meaning would depend on the context in which it was written.