The copper trace on a PCB fully matches multiple definitions for the word wire. It's not intuitively thought of that way but calling the traces wires is perfectly accurate.
Traces can be used for other things other than connecting components together, such as the component itself in the case of a PCB antenna, or as a transmission line in the case of high speed circuits, even impedance matching components in antenna systems for high enough frequencies. They can also have the function of inductors, capacitors, and resistors in a circuit especially if the exact value isn't important but the ratiometric value is, such as with shunts.
Any piece of wire or circuit board trace has some inductance.
One of the reasons high frequency circuit boards use a ground plane for the common connections is that a solid plane of copper has lower inductance (as well as lower resistance) than a trace.