Shipping

Shipping, initially derived from the word relationship, is the desire by fans for two or more people, either real-life celebrities or fictional characters, to be in a relationship, romantic or otherwise. Shipping can involve virtually any kind of relationship: from the well-known and established, to the ambiguous or those undergoing development, and even to the highly improbable or blatantly impossible.

Shipping often takes the form of creative works on the internet, including fanfiction and fanart. A 'ship' refers to the relationship supported, while 'shipping' refers to the phenomenon. The pairings of characters are typically given names—usually portmanteau of the characters names. For instance, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger combines the "Ro" from Ronald and "mion" from Hermione to give Romione.