tine

Etymology 1

From Middle English tine, alteration of Middle English tinde, tind, from Old English tind, from Proto-West Germanic *tind, Proto-Germanic *tindaz. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Tiende, Tiene (“prong, tine”), German Zind, Zint (“prong”). Compare also the related English tind and German Zinne.

noun

1. A spike or point on an implement or tool, especially a prong of a fork or a tooth of a comb.
   The tines of the fork were quite evidently of iron or steel, the girl did not know which, while the handle and the spoon were of the same material as the smaller vessels. 1920, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan the Untamed
   Sitting at the table one day, I held the fork in my left hand and pierced a piece of fried chicken. I put the knife through the second tine, as we had been strictly taught, and began to saw against the bone. 1969, Maya Angelou, chapter 9, in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, New York: Bantam, published 1971, pages 45–46
2. A small branch, especially on an antler or horn.
3. (dialect) A wild vetch or tare.

Etymology 2

Unknown, possibly related to etymology 1.

adj

1. small, diminutive

Etymology 3

See teen (“affliction”).

noun

1. (obsolete) Trouble; distress; teen.

Etymology 4

See tind.

verb

1. To kindle; to set on fire.
2. (obsolete) To rage; to smart.

Etymology 5

From Middle English tynen, from Old English tȳnan, from tūn (“enclosure”) (modern town).

verb

1. To shut in, or enclose.
   When I was then surrounded on every side by the fiends, and tined about by the blindness of the darkness, then hove I my eyes up and looked hither and yond, whether any help were to come to me, that I might be rescued; […] 1852, Alfred the Great, translated by Alfred Committee, The Whole Works of King Alfred the Great, volume II, page 388