An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/schrumpfen

by Friedrich Kluge

schrumpfen, verb, ‘to shrink, shrivel, crumble,’ from Middle High German schrimpfen, ‘to wrinkle’; allied probably to English shrimp, Dutch schrompelen, Swedish skrumpa, Danish skrumpe (English scrimp). Besides the Teutonic root skrimp contained in these cognates there is also an equivalent Teutonic root rimp (see rümpfen), krimp (compare Dutch krimpen, Anglo-Saxon crimpan, ‘to shrivel’), as well as skrink, in Anglo-Saxon sčrincan, English to shrink.