Where does “wirelessly” come from?
Wirelessly derives from English wireless, combining English wire with Old English -līċ (meaning "like"), itself from Old English -lēas (meaning "without"), ultimately traceable to Proto-Germanic galīkaz and Proto-Indo-European līg- and ḱóm.
wirelessly (English): Without using wires
Ancestry of “wirelessly”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | wireless | Not having any wires; Of or relating to... |
| 2 | English | wire | Metal formed into a thin, even thread, now... |
| 3 | Middle English | wir | — |
| 4 | Old English | wīr | wire, metal thread, wire-ornament |
| 5 | English | myrtle | An evergreen shrub or small tree of the genus... |
| 6 | Old French | myrte | — |
| 7 | Latin | myrtus | myrtle |
| 8 | Ancient Greek | μύρτος | myrtle; twig or spray of myrtle |
| 9 | Ancient Greek | μυρίκη | tamarisk |
| 10 | Ancient Greek | -ίκη | — |