The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003):

hotlink
 /hot'link/, n.

    A hot spot on a World Wide Web page; an area, which, when clicked or
    selected, chases a URL. Also spelled ?hot link?. Use of this term focuses
    on the link's role as an immediate part of your display, as opposed to the
    timeless sense of logical connection suggested by web pointer. Your
    screen shows hotlinks but your document has web pointers, not (in normal
    usage) the other way around.


The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):

hotlink

   A mechanism for sharing data between two application
   programs where changes to the data made by one application
   appear instantly in the other's copy.

   Under System 7 on the Macintosh the users establishes a
   hotlink by doing a "Create Publisher" on the server and
   "Subscribe" on the client.

   Under Windows 3 it's "Cut Special"(?) and "Paste Special"
   (as opposed to the normal Cut and Paste).

   (1995-02-16)