Weeny

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈwiːni/

Definitions

1. Extremely small in size or amount, often used to emphasize something minuscule
2. Describing an object or entity that is noticeably tiny or insignificant in dimensions
3. Characterizing something remarkably little or diminutive compared to a standard size

Etymology: "Weeny" is probably a playful blend of "teeny" and "weeny," which may have arisen as an imitative doubling of "wee," the Scots-influenced word for small. The pairing "teeny weeny" is the older, more familiar form, and it is likely that "weeny" alone came to be used as a shortened version of it, though the exact sequence is uncertain. The "-y" ending is the common English diminutive-style suffix seen in many childish or affectionate words, so the word fits a pattern of cute, sound-driven formations. A more surprising thread runs through a different sense of the spelling. In American slang, "weenie" (and "wiener") came to mean a sausage, shaped like a small frankfurter, and that sausage name derives from German "wiener," meaning "of Vienna," the city associated with the style of sausage. Slang use of the word for the male genital organ developed from that sausage meaning, and it is sometimes thought of as small by association with "teeny weeny." Because the spellings overlap, the adjective "weeny" is best kept separate from the sausage-derived senses, even though readers may connect them.

Synonyms: tiny, small, miniature, petite, diminutive

Antonyms: huge, massive, enormous, gigantic, colossal