Shapings

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. The process of forming or molding materials into specific designs or configurations
2. The act of creating objects from various substances, often involving artistic or practical applications
3. The alterations made to a medium that determine its final form and character

Etymology: "Shapings" is the plural of "shaping," which is itself a noun formed from "shape" plus the suffix "-ing." The suffix does the work of turning an action into a thing you can name: a shaping is the result or instance of shaping something. Shaping is a word with a long pedigree in English. Its roots go back to Old English "sċyppende" and "sċeppende," which came from a Proto-Germanic verb "skapjaną" meaning "to form, shape, create." That same Germanic root gave modern English "shape" and gave German "schaffen," meaning "to create," so the two languages share a verb for making things from raw material. Middle English spelled the word "schapynge" and "shapinge," and by then the Old English form had already been reshaped by the familiar "-ing" ending. The noun's meaning has stayed close to its physical origin, the act of giving form to matter, which is why the word still suits both pottery and poetry.

Synonyms: forming, molding

Antonyms: destroying, breaking