'tyre' originates from Middle English, specifically the word 'tire/tyre' used for a band or covering fitted to a wheel, where the term referred to a hoop or covering used to equip a wheel.

'tyre' changed from earlier Middle English forms such as 'tyre'/'tire' (referring to a band or fitting for a wheel) and later came to be used for the rubber covering after the development of pneumatic rubber tyres in the 19th century.

Initially, it referred to a metal or leather hoop fitted around a wheel; over time, with technological change (in particular the invention and spread of rubber pneumatic tyres), it evolved to mean the modern rubber outer covering of a wheel.