The state, condition, or quality of being a beast; used humorously or archaically to describe beastly nature.
From 'beast' plus '-ship' (Old English '-scipe' meaning 'state, condition, or office'), seen in words like 'friendship,' 'membership,' and 'kingship'.
The '-ship' suffix originally meant 'shape' or 'form' in Old English, evolved to mean 'state,' and now marks positions (kingship) and relationships (friendship)—a single suffix tracking how English thinks about abstract concepts.
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