Английский Этимологический словарь - cramp (n.)

- "muscle contraction," c.1378, from O.Fr. crampe, from a Frank. word (cf. O.H.G. krapmhe "cramp, spasm," related to kramph "bent, crooked"). The same P.Gmc. root yielded M.Du. crampe, M.L.G. krampe, one of which gave M.E. cramp "a metal bar bent at both ends," which yielded a metaphoric sense (first recorded 1719) of "something that confines or hinders." Writer's cramp is first attested 1853.