{"id":3331,"date":"2010-08-05T14:41:13","date_gmt":"2010-08-05T13:41:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/blog\/?p=3331"},"modified":"2010-08-05T14:41:13","modified_gmt":"2010-08-05T13:41:13","slug":"wire-twists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/?p=3331","title":{"rendered":"Wire twists"},"content":{"rendered":"

The electricians have been rewiring my new house this week and finished today, so I thought it would be interesting to looking the etymology of the word wire<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

According to the Online Etymology Dictionary<\/a>, wire comes from the Old English word wir<\/em> (metal drawn out into a thread), which is related to the Old Norse word viravirka<\/em> (filigree work), the Swedish word vira<\/em> (to twist), and the Old High German word wiara<\/em> (fine gold work).<\/p>\n

Going further back we find that the Proto-Indo-European root of wire and wir<\/em> is *wei-<\/em> (to turn, twist, plait). This is also the root of the Old Irish word fiar<\/em> (bent, crooked – cam<\/em> in Modern Irish); the Welsh word gwyr<\/em> (bent, crooked); and the Latin viere<\/em> (to bend, twist).<\/p>\n

The Proto-Indo-European Etymology dictionary<\/a> gives the PIE root of wire as *chislom<\/em>.<\/p>\n

There are quite a few idiomatic expressions involving wire, including:<\/p>\n