To provide an electrode wire for wire discharge machining capable of exhibiting a cooling effect of the electrode wire by latent heat of vaporization and a wire breakage preventing effect by coating a steel wire covered with copper with a material of a comparatively low boiling point, such as zinc, etc, at a price lower than a brass wire or zink-plated brass wire with brass as core wire.

This electrode wire is sequentially laminated and covered with a copper plated layer, a brass layer and a plated layer of zinc, etc. on a surface of the steel wire of a conductor. It is manufactured by applying primary acid-washing and film treatment on a material rod (401), applying primary wire-drawing on the film treated rod (402), heat-treating it (403), applying secondary acid-washing and film treatment (404), applying secondary wire-drawing (405), applying third acid-washing (406), plating copper (407), annealing it (408), applying fourth acid-washing (409), applying zinc plating (410), applying third wire-drawing (411) and correcting it by an inert gas atmospheric furnace (412).