'shaping' ultimately traces back to Old English and Proto-Germanic roots: from Old English 'gesceap'/'sceapan' and Proto-Germanic '*skapjaną' (related to the element '*skap-' meaning 'to create, form').

'shaping' developed through Middle English forms such as 'shapen' and verbal/adjectival uses of 'shape' and later acquired the noun/gerund form 'shaping', with 'shapings' as its plural.

Initially associated with 'creating' or 'bringing into being', the sense shifted toward 'giving form or contour' and now also denotes the act/process or resulting forms; the basic idea of 'forming' has been retained but specialized to physical and abstract 'forms'.