shrivel v.

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 1937.

Middle English shrinken, from Old English scrincan "to draw in the limbs, contract spontaneously, shrivel up; wither (through death, age, disease, etc.), pine away" (class III strong verb; past tense scranc, past participle scruncen), from Proto-Germanic *skrink- (source also of Middle Dutch schrinken, Swedish skrynka "to wrinkle"), probably from PIE root *sker- (2) "to turn, bend."

Originally it had a causal form, shrench (compare drink/drench). The sense of "become reduced in size" is recorded from late 13c. The meaning "draw back, recoil" (early 14c.) often was in reference to the behavior of snails; the meaning "flinch, wince, draw back from fear or shame" is by mid-14c. The transitive sense of "cause to shrink, make to appear smaller" is from late 14c.

Shrink-wrap "clingy thin plastic film" used in food packaging is attested from 1961 (shrinking-wrap is by 1959). Shrinking violet "shy person" is attested by 1882.