shrimp (n.) Look up shrimp at Dictionary.com
early 14c., "kind of slender shellfish," probably from Old Norse skreppa "thin person," from Proto-Germanic *skrempanan (see scrimp). Related to Old English scrimman "to shrink." The connecting notion is probably "thinness" (cf. Danish dialectal skrimpe "thin cattle"). The meaning "puny person" in English is attested from late 14c.