Shrink
/ʃrɪŋk/noun
To become or make smaller in size, amount, or intensity.
Did you know?English **shrink** comes from Old English *scrincan*, a strong verb meaning “to shrivel, wither, or waste away,” and it shares a deep Germanic root with words for bending, curling, and contracting.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*sker-
“to cut, bend, or turn”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*skrinkaną
“to shrink, wither, contract”
Old English
OE
scrincan
“to shrivel, waste away, wither”
Middle English
ME
shrinken
“to contract, become smaller; to draw back”
Modern English
English
shrink
“to become smaller or to contract”