Where does “hot-wire” come from?

hot-wire (English) comes from English wire, from Middle English wir, from Old English wīr, from English myrtle, from Old French myrte, from Latin myrtus, from Ancient Greek μύρτος, from Ancient Greek μυρίκη.

hot-wire (English): to start an automobile engine by bypassing the...

Definitions

  1. to start an automobile engine by bypassing the...

Ancestry of “hot-wire”, step by step

hot-wire traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English wire

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishwireMetal formed into a thin, even thread, now...
2Middle Englishwir—
3Old Englishwīrwire, metal thread, wire-ornament
4EnglishmyrtleAn evergreen shrub or small tree of the genus...
5Old Frenchmyrte—
6Latinmyrtusmyrtle
7Ancient Greekμύρτοςmyrtle; twig or spray of myrtle
8Ancient Greekμυρίκηtamarisk
9Ancient Greek-ίκη—

via English hot

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishhotHaving a high temperature; Causing the air to be...
2Middle Englishhothot
3Old Englishhāthot, fervent, fervid, fierce
4Old Englishhātanto promise; to command, promise; to command, call...
5Hungarian-anAdded to an adjective to create an adverb; Added...
6Hungarian-áUsed to form the third-person singular indicative...
7Proto-Uralic-i—
Every word from Ancient Greek -ίκη →Every word from Ancient Greek μυρίκη →Every word from Ancient Greek μύρτος →