shrimp (n.)

early 14c., "slender, long-tailed, ten-footed, edible marine crustacean," Middle English shrimpe, probably from or related to Old Norse skreppa "thin person," from Proto-Germanic *skrimp- (see scrimp). This is related to Old English scrimman "to shrink."

The connecting notion between the two senses would be probably "thinness" (compare Danish dialectal skrimpe "thin cattle"). OED speculates that the general sense of "shrunken creature, puny person" is probably directly from the etymological source, however that meaning in English is attested only from late 14c. and is felt as transferred from the crustacean sense. An especially puny one might be a shrimplet (1680s). Shrimp cocktail is attested by 1894.

also from early 14c.

shrimp (v.)

"fish for shrimp," 1801 (implied in shrimping), from shrimp (n.). Related: Shrimper "person who catches shrimp; vessel engaged in shrimping" (1808).

also from 1801

Entries linking to shrimp

scrimp (v.)

1774, "to make too small, to pinch or scant," originally in English an adjective, "scant, meager" (1718), possibly from a Scandinavian source (compare Swedish skrumpna "to shrink, shrivel up," Danish skrumpen "shrunken, shriveled," Norwegian dialectal skramp "thin man"), or from a continental Germanic source akin to Middle High German schrimpfen, German schrumpfen "to shrivel" (from Proto-Germanic *skrimp-, from PIE root *(s)kerb- "to turn, bend").

The meaning "economize" is by 1848. Related: Scrimped; scrimping.

shrimpy (adj.)

1841, "smelling of shrimp;" 1859, "abounding in shrimp," from shrimp (n.) + -y (2). Also, of persons, "small, slender, and weak" (by 1848). An earlier adjective was shrimpish (1540s). The Dorset dialect shrimpy, noted in 1847 and meaning, of lands, "thin, arid, poor," might represent a survival from Old English scrimman "to dry up."

shrivel (v.)

"contract, draw, or be drawn into wrinkles," 1560s (implied in shriveled), a word of unknown origin, not found in Middle English; perhaps from a Scandinavian source (compare Swedish skryvla "to wrinkle, to shrivel"), and perhaps ultimately connected with shrimp (n.) and shrink (v.). Related: Shriveled; shriveling.

Middle English did have rivelled "wrinkled, furrowed," from Old English rifelede, from *rifel "a wrinkle or fold on the skin," a word of obscure origin, "very common c 1530-1720" [OED] in the senses "dried" (of fruit), "shriveled by heat."

Trends of shrimp

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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runt

c. 1500, "old or decayed tree stump" (Douglas), a provincial word of unknown origin. The meaning was extended to "small ox or cow," especially of the breeds characteristic of Wales and the Scottish Highlands (1540s, if indeed this is the same word), and by 1610s generally to unde

mantis

The mantis shrimp (by 1853; earlier sea-mantis, 1690s) is so called for its resemblance to the insect....

fish

"a vertebrate which has gills and fins adapting it for living in the water," Old English fisc "fish," from Proto-Germanic *fiskaz (source also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Old High German fisc, Old Norse fiskr, Middle Dutch visc, Dutch vis, German Fisch, Gothic fisks), perhaps from

turn

late Old English turnian "to rotate, revolve," in part also from Old French torner "to turn away or around; draw aside, cause to turn; change, transform; turn on a lathe" (Modern French tourner), both from Latin tornare "to polish, round off, fashion, turn on a lathe," from tornu

oven

Old English ofen "furnace, oven, chamber or receptacle in which food is baked or cooked by continuous heat radiated from the structure," from Proto-Germanic *ukhnaz (source also of Old Frisian, Dutch oven, Old High German ovan, German Ofen, Old Norse ofn, Old Swedish oghn, Gothic

appreciate

1650s, "to esteem or value highly," from Late Latin appretiatus, past participle of appretiare "to set a price to," from ad "to" (see ad-) + pretium "price" (see price (n.)). The meaning "to rise in value" (intransitive) is by 1787; the sense of "be fully conscious of" is by 1833

season

c. 1300, sesoun, seson, "a period of the year," with reference to weather or work, also "proper time, suitable occasion," from Old French seison, seson, saison "season, date; right moment, appropriate time" (Modern French saison) "a sowing, planting," from Latin sationem (nominat

geometry

early 14c., also gemetrie, gemetry, from Old French geometrie (12c., Modern French géométrie), from Latin geometria, from Greek geometria "measurement of earth or land; geometry," from combining form of gē "earth, land" (see Gaia) + -metria "a measuring of" (see -metry). Old Engl

A sound found chiefly in words of Old English, Old Norse or Greek origin, unpronounceable by Normans and many other Europeans. In Greek, the sound corresponds etymologically to Sanskrit -dh- and English -d-; and it was represented graphically by -TH- and at first pronounced as a

connoisseur

1714, "a critical judge of any art, one well-acquainted with any of the fine arts and thus competent to pass judgment on its products," from French connoisseur (Modern French connaiseur), from Old French conoisseor "an expert, a judge, one well-versed," from conoistre "to know,"

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updated on April 22, 2023

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Dictionary entries near shrimp

shriek

shrift

shrike

shrill

shrilly

shrimp

shrimpy

shrine

Shriner

shrink

shrinkage