English
tyre
Tyre comes from Middle English tir(e).
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tir(e)
- Englishearliest quotation 1929tyre
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tir(e)
- Englishearliest quotation 1929tyre
Earliest quotation: 1929, The Listener: “The circular iron platform over there is used in…”
The story
Attested in the sense “rim of a wheel” since ca. 1500. Generally considered to be a use of Middle English tir(e), a clipped byform of atir (‘equipment, furnishings, ornament’), whence modern attire. A less accepted theory derives it from the verb to tie.disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it. The spelling tyre was predominant in the 16th century, but largely gave way to tire in the 17th and 18th, before it was revived again outside North America in the 19th century.
Linked words
through Middle English tir(e)
Another origin of tyre
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁(y)-‘to suckle, nurse’root as named
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰé-dʰh₁-i‘curdled milk’uncertain
- Sanskritc. 1500–500 BCEदधिdádhi‘coagulated or curdled milk’uncertain
- Tamilmodernதயிர்tayir‘yogurt, curd, fermented milk, dahi, tyre’
- Englishtodaytyre
Today it means
noun The ring-shaped protective covering around a wheel which is usually made of rubber or plastic composite and is either pneumatic or solid.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English tir(e) / tyre