Wire

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /waɪə(ɹ)/

Definitions

1. A thin, flexible strand of metal used to conduct electricity, bind objects together, or form structures
2. A slender metallic thread employed in electrical systems, for tying items, or in the creation of frameworks
3. A flexible metallic line utilized for transmitting electricity, securing objects, or constructing supports

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "wire" is that its Old English ancestor, "wīr", meant a metal thread or wire-ornament, as well as the sense of a twisted cord, and the word has been twisting its way through English for well over a thousand years. Its deeper root carries the sense of turning and weaving: the Proto-Indo-European "weh₁y-" meant to turn, twist, weave or plait, so a wire is, at heart, something twisted or woven into shape. The word reached modern English through Middle English "wir" and "wyr", and it belongs to a family of Germanic words for thread and cord. Its ancestor in Proto-Germanic, "wīraz", kept the sense of a twisted thread from the start, so the idea of metal was added to an older idea of plaited fibre rather than replacing it.

Synonyms: cable, cord, thread, line, strand