Shapedness

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality of possessing a recognizable or definite form rather than being formless or amorphous
2. The state or degree to which something has been molded into a particular or intentional shape
3. The characteristic of having a discernible outline, contour, or structured appearance

Etymology: "Shapedness" is a plain formation: the adjective "shaped" with the suffix "-ness," which turns an adjective into a noun for a quality or state. "Shaped" itself comes from "shape," the Old English "gesceap," meaning creation or form, so the noun is a shape-derived word that has been given a state-of-being ending. The suffix "-ness" is one of English's oldest and most productive, inherited from Old English "-nes" and used to build abstract nouns from adjectives such as "good" giving "goodness." Its pairing with a past-participle adjective like "shaped" is the usual pattern, producing a noun for the condition of having a particular form. The earliest recorded use of "shapedness" dates to 1812, which places it in the early nineteenth century. It is a transparent coinage that needed no special invention, so its meaning follows directly from its parts: the quality of being shaped.

Synonyms: shape, form, configuration