crimp

crimp · adjective, noun, verb¹

1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*krimpaną“to shrink, draw back”
2. Middle Dutch · derived fromcrimpen
3. Middle English · inherited fromcrimpen“to be contracted, be drawn together”
4. English todaycrimp

From Middle English crimpen (“to be contracted, be drawn together”), from Middle Dutch crimpen, crempen (“to crimp”), from Proto-Germanic *krimpaną (“to shrink, draw back”) (compare related Old English ġecrympan (“to curl”)). Cognate with Dutch krimpen, German Low German krimpen, Faroese kreppa (“crisis”), and Icelandic kreppa (“to bend tightly, clench”). Compare also derivative Middle English crymplen (“to wrinkle”) and causative crempen (“to turn something back, restrain”, literally “to cause to shrink or draw back”), both ultimately derived from the same root. See also cramp.

crimp · noun, verb²

Uncertain. Likely from etymology 1, above, but the historical development is not clear. Attested since the seventeenth century.