hard-wired

or hard·wired

[ hahrd-wahyuhrd ]

adjective

1. Computers.
   1. built into a computer's hardware and thus not readily changed.
   2. (of a terminal) connected to a computer by a direct circuit rather than through a switching network.
2. (of electrical or electronic components) connected by hardwiring.
3. pertaining to or being an intrinsic and relatively unmodifiable behavior pattern:

   Every cricket has a hard-wired pattern of chirps.

hard-wired

adjective

1. (of a circuit or instruction) permanently wired into a computer, replacing separate software
2. (of human behaviour) innate; not learned

   humans have a hard-wired ability for acquiring language

Word History and Origins

Origin of hard-wired¹

First recorded in 1970–75