'gourd-shaped' is a Modern English compound formed from the noun 'gourd' and the adjective-forming element '-shaped' (from 'shape'). 'Gourd' entered English from Old French 'gourde', ultimately from Latin 'cucurbita' (meaning 'gourd, bottle gourd'), and 'shape' comes from Old English/Proto-Germanic roots meaning 'form'.

'gourd' came into Middle English from Old French 'gourde', from Latin 'cucurbita'; 'shape' derives from Old English words (related to Proto-Germanic *skap- meaning 'form, create'). The compound expression using '-shaped' (noun + '-shaped') became productive in Modern English, yielding 'gourd-shaped' to describe objects like vases, bottles, or natural forms.

Initially it meant 'in the form of a gourd' and this literal descriptive meaning has been retained in modern usage.