gesceap

Old English

Etymology

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”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jeˈʃæ͜ɑp/

Noun

ġesċeap n (nominative plural ġesċeapu)

1. shape (external form)
2. creation
3. creature
4. (rare) fate, destiny
5. genitals
   • c. 989–992 CE, Ælfric of Eynsham, edited and translated by Benjamin Thorpe, F.S.A., The Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon Church, volume II, London: Richard and John E. Taylor, published 1846, page 512:

     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.

Declension

Strong a-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	ġesċeap	ġesċeapu
accusative	ġesċeap	ġesċeapu
genitive	ġesċeapes	ġesċeapa
dative	ġesċeape	ġesċeapum

Derived terms

• ġesċeaphwīl (“a fated moment”)

Descendants

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