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Inherited from Proto-West Germanic *gaskap, from Proto-Germanic *gaskapą, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kep- (“to split, cut”). Compare Old Saxon giskap (“creation, destiny”), Old Norse skap (“creation, fate”).

• IPA^(key): /jeˈʃæ͜ɑp/

ġesċeap n (nominative plural ġesċeapu)

1. shape (external form)
2. creation
3. creature
4. (rare) fate, destiny
5. genitals
   • Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon Church

     Sē wōda ðā āwende āweġ his ċeaflas fram ðǣre hālgan handa, swilċe fram hātum īsene, and sē āwyrġeda gāst ġewāt of ðām men ūt ðurh his ġesċēapu, mid sċēandlīcum flēame.

     The madman then turned his cheeks away from the holy man's hands as if from hot iron, and the accursed spirit departed the man through his genitals with shameful flight.

Strong a-stem:

• ġesċeaphwīl (“a fated moment”)

• Middle English: schap
  • English: shape (obsolete dialectal shap)
    • → Portuguese: shape
    • → Welsh: siâp
  • Middle Scots: schap, schape
    • Scots: shape