1590s, from tyne "very small" (c. 1400, perhaps from tine) + -y (2).
Entries linking to tiny
tine n.
mid-14c., from Old English tind "spike, beak, prong, tooth of a fork," a general Germanic word (compare Old High German zint "sharp point, spike," Old Norse tindr "tine, point, top, summit," German Zinne "pinnacle"), of unknown origin (see zinc).
-y 2
adjective suffix, "full of or characterized by," from Old English -ig, from Proto-Germanic *-iga- (source also of Dutch, Danish, German -ig, Gothic -egs), from PIE -(i)ko-, adjectival suffix, cognate with elements in Greek -ikos, Latin -icus (see -ic). Originally added to nouns in Old English; used from 13c. with verbs, and by 15c. even with other adjectives (for example crispy). Adjectives such as hugy, vasty are artificial words that exist for the sake of poetical metrics.
teeny adj.
1825, alteration of tiny; teeny-tiny attested from 1867. Alternative form teensy is attested from 1856 (teensy-weensy is from 1872). Also teenty (1844).