An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/schrumpfen

by Friedrich Kluge

schrumpfen, vb., ‘to shrink, shrivel, crumble,’ from MidHG. schrimpfen, ‘to wrinkle’; allied probably to E. shrimp, Du. schrompelen, Swed. skrumpa, Dan. skrumpe (E. scrimp). Besides the Teut. root skrimp contained in these cognates there is also an equiv. Teut. root rimp (see rümpfen), krimp (comp. Du. krimpen, AS. crimpan, ‘to shrivel’), as well as skrink, in AS. sčrincan, E. to shrink.