'nonhuman-shaped' originates from English, specifically from the prefix 'non-' (used to negate), the word 'human' (from Latin 'humanus'), and the past-participial adjective-forming use of 'shaped' (from Old English roots for 'shape').

'human' comes from Latin 'humanus'; 'shape' comes from Old English 'gesceap'/'sceapan' meaning 'form' or 'to create'; the negative prefix 'non-' is a modern English prefix derived from Latin negation 'non'. These elements combined in Modern English to form compounds like 'nonhuman' and further the hyphenated descriptive 'nonhuman-shaped'.

Initially the components meant 'not' + 'of a human' + 'having form'; over time they were combined to mean specifically 'having a form that is not human' as a descriptive adjective.