the.com/tine
The pointy bit that makes a fork a weapon and not a spoon.
means One of the narrow, pointed prongs sticking out from a fork, antler, or similar branching tool.
from From Old English 'tind,' meaning a spike or point, part of an old Germanic word family that also gave Old Norse and German relatives meaning prong or spike — the same ancient root humans used whenever they needed a word for 'sharp thing sticking up.'
- origin
- Old English for tooth or spike
- also used
- antler branches and garden rakes
- count varies
- most forks have three or four