shipping

¹

[ ship-ing ]

noun

1. the act or business of a person or thing that ships.
2. a number of ships, especially merchant ships, taken as a whole; tonnage.
3. Obsolete. a voyage.

shipping

²

[ ship-ing ]

noun

, Slang.

1. the act or practice of discussing, writing about, or hoping for a romantic relationship between fictional characters, as in fan fiction, or between famous people, whether or not the romance actually exists in the book, show, etc., or in real life:

   the shipping of TV characters;

   shipping in webcomics.

shipping

/ ˈʃɪpɪŋ /

noun

1. 1. the business of transporting freight, esp by ship
   2. ( as modifier )

      shipping line

      a shipping magnate

2. 1. ships collectively

      there is a lot of shipping in the Channel

   2. the tonnage of a number of ships

      shipping for this year exceeded that of last

Other Words From

• non·shipping adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of shipping¹

Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; ship ¹, -ing ¹

Origin of shipping²

First recorded in 1990–95; (relation)ship + -ing ¹

Example Sentences

The deal also includes free shipping for Amazon Prime members.

From Ars Technica

This very rapid ecommerce growth did come with some hiccups, including a crushing number of packages leading to shipping delays at public and private carriers, including the USPS and UPS.

From Search Engine Watch

A 23-year-old who works for a shipping company, and who declined to give his name for safety fears, said he was disgusted by the military.

From Washington Post

Along with the anticipated delayed shipping and production times, unfortunately our onboarding process with Neiman Marcus was initially put on hold.

From Fortune

Araujo says they’re also looking into making the sauce available for national and international shipping.

From Eater

Manufacturing merchandise, publicity (a radio ad in SF, Facebook ads, venue specific advertising), supplies, shipping.

From The Daily Beast

A plastic factory, a hardware supplier, and shipping–and-receiving giants like Fed-Ex and DHL are neighboring businesses.

From The Daily Beast

Higher shipping costs mean additional friction for companies working in the Canadian oil sands.

From The Daily Beast

Although new to the shipping industry, Kaiser proved a success in turning out the ships America needed.

From The Daily Beast

By Abby Haglage The shipping company heads to court Tuesday to face $1.6 billion in charges of conspiring to traffic illegal meds.

From The Daily Beast

She was only having a look; flying around the shipping and Headquarters camp at a great height, but dropping no bombs.

From Project Gutenberg

That curious, almost ridiculous-looking craft, was among the aristocracy of shipping.

From Project Gutenberg

After curing, it is removed to the packing house and baled in packages, and then transported on mules to the coast for shipping.

From Project Gutenberg

The long cavalcade is seen disappearing down the hill, while away in the distance is Portsmouth Harbour with its crowded shipping.

From Project Gutenberg

The Pryor makes the heaviest, richest shipping, and can only be grown to perfection on alluvial or heavily manured lands.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• freight
• ship

About This Word

What else does shipping mean?

Shipping is the act of wanting two or more fictional characters or celebrities to end up in a relationship, usually romantic.

Where does shipping come from?

Though the term didn’t come around until later, the concept of shipping itself predated any label. The first widely-known ship, appearing around the mid-1970s, was the romantic pairing of Kirk and Spock or Kirk/Spock from Star Trek. (The slash between the names is why fan fiction about two men is now called slash. It has since extended to women with femslash.)

The actual term ship apparently came from the X-Files fandom. Fans who wanted Mulder and Scully to get together were called relationshippers starting in the 1990s. These people were known as r’shippers or shippers for short by as early as 1996. 1996 was a big year for shipping, as ‘ship as a noun appeared in discussions about the canonization of a romantic relationship between the two characters. By 1998, ship was a full-on verb.

By 1999, the terms shipper and ship appeared in Star Trek fandom, possibly indicating a cross-pollination of fandoms, perhaps because both shows involve extraterrestrials. A shipper is a person who engages in shipping. They might write fan fiction or draw art of characters involved, often with the characters ending up in a relationship or already being in a relationship. They might also discuss their ship with fellow fans, sometimes presenting evidence as to the characters’ chemistry.

Not too soon after these words entered the Star Trek fandom, they spread to other fandoms like Harry Potter, which was growing its own fanbase following the popularity of the books. The term exploded by 2002, and by 2003, it was finally added to Urban Dictionary, signaling that its presence online had been secured.

Even decades since Kirk/Spock, shipping thrives. It also continues to evolve, with fans shipping real-life personalities and celebrities (Larry Stylinson, a shipping of One Direction’s Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson) as well as developing increasing subgenres and increasingly large fandoms. However, this type of shipping can be somewhat controversial, and people doing it are sometimes warned to be careful to not cross boundaries.

How is shipping used in real life?

As a verb, people usually declare their affinity for a certain pairing by saying something like “I ship Character X and Character Y!” Alternatively, when faced with a situation that makes characters seem cute together, they may say “I ship it.” Someone who so ships a character is a shipper (e.g., a Ron Weasley/Hermione Granger shipper in Harry Potter fandom).

Many fans have strong opinions about shipping, which may result in shipping wars within a fandom, where each side wants a different ship to become canon, or part of the actual story or narrative.

Ships, which are the pairings themselves, have a variety of ways they can be named. Blending character names together is a popular choice. Though many are funny, many are more straightforward and aren’t as laughter-inducing. Ships may also be known under another name entirely. For example the ship name for Finn and Poe from Star Wars is Stormpilot because Finn was formerly a stormtrooper and Poe is a rebel pilot. And, the ship for the characters in the 17th season of Pokémon:XY are called AmourShipping.

While making up new names is fun, the most unambiguous way to name a ship is to place character names next to each other, separated by an x or a /. For example, Ash/Misty or AshxMisty. This more easily accommodates polyamorous ships as well, like Ron/Harry/Hermione in Harry Potter.

Note

This content is not meant to be a formal definition of this term. Rather, it is an informal summary that seeks to provide supplemental information and context important to know or keep in mind about the term’s history, meaning, and usage.