Etymology and Spelling
The Oxford English Dictionary suggests that the word derives from "attire", while other sources suggest a connection with the verb "to tie". From the 15th to the 17th centuries the spellings tire and tyre were used without distinction; but by 1700 tyre had become obsolete and tire remained as the settled spelling. In the UK, the spelling tyre was revived in the 19th century for pneumatic tires, though many continued to use tire for the iron variety. The Times newspaper in Britain was still using tire as late as 1905. The 1911 edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica states that "he spelling 'tyre' is not now accepted by the best English authorities, and is unrecognized in the US", while Fowler's Modern English Usage of 1926 says that "there is nothing to be said for 'tyre', which is etymologically wrong, as well as needlessly divergent from our own older & the present American usage". However, over the course of the 20th century tyre became established as the standard British spelling.
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