shrimp English · revision 39524

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=1327, Wardrobe Account of Edward II}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ʃɹɪmp/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|shrimpe]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2024) probably a Germanic word related to [[ang|scrimman|t=to shrink, dry up]]^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966)^(Dictionary.com 2016) and to [[gmh|schrimpfen|t=to contract]],^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)^(ODE 2010) [[gml|schrempen|t=to contract, wrinkle]]^(SOED 2002)^(Hoad 1986) and [[non|skreppa|t=thin person]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The American Heritage Dictionary suggests a Low German origin.^(AHD 2024) Barnhart and Etymonline see a shared notion of thinness, comparing Danish dialect [[m|da|skrimpe|t=thin cattle]];^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) the word is also related to [[scrimp]] and [[shrink]].^(Klein 1966)^(OED 2026)^(Skeat 1911)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The slender, long-tailed crustacean: 1327, in a wardrobe account of Edward II.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense "puny person" appears almost at once, in Chaucer's ''Monk's Prologue'' (c. 1386), where the Host says that ordinary men are mere shrimps beside monks;^(OED 2026)^(GDoS) the OED thinks it comes directly from the root sense "shrunken creature" and is only now felt to be a transfer from the animal.^(OED 2026)^(Weekley 1921) Shakespeare's Talbot is a "weak and writhled shrimp" in ''1 Henry VI'',^(Johnson 1755)^(GDoS) and Johnson (1755) gave both senses, the second as "a little wrinkled man; a dwarf".^(Johnson 1755) The colour of a cooked shrimp, a bright pink, is ''shrimp'' from 1895.^(OED 2026) A verb, to fish for shrimps, is recorded from 1801 in ''shrimping''^(Etymonline) and in the OED from 1844.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1327 – the crustacean.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1386 – a puny person (Chaucer).^(OED 2026)^(GDoS)

+ * 1801 – ''shrimping'', fishing for shrimps.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1844 – the verb, to fish for shrimps.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1895 – a bright pink colour.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A small, chiefly marine [[crustacean]] with a slender body and long tail, many kinds of which are eaten.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+ # (chiefly US) The flesh of such animals as [[food]].^(MWU 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+ # (informal, derogatory) A small, slight or unimportant person: ''He was a shrimp of a boy at twelve.''^(OED 2026)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A bright [[pink]] colour.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To fish for or catch shrimps.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[shrimper]]

+ * [[shrimplike]]

+ * [[shrimpy]]

+ * [[shrimpfish]]

+ * [[brine shrimp]]

+ * [[fairy shrimp]]

+ * [[ghost shrimp]]

+ * [[mantis shrimp]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[scrimp]]

+ * [[shrink]]

+ * [[shrivel]]

+ * [[prawn]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}