early 14c., cromplen, crumplen, "press into irregular folds, rumple, wrinkle," also intransitive, "contract into wrinkles, shrink, shrivel," frequentative of crumpen "to curl up" (from Old English crump "bent, crooked"), from Proto-Germanic *krumbo- "to press, squeeze, compress" (source also of German krumm "crooked, warped"). Related: Crumpled; crumpling.