Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Poison; venom; pus. Holland.
  • To place upon or in the earth; cast down to the earth; humble; subdue. Also written atterr.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete Poison; venom; corrupt matter from a sore.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Poison, venom, especially of a venomous animal.
  • noun Pus, corrupt or morbid matter from a sore or wound.
  • noun Epithelium produced on the tongue.
  • noun A scab; a dry sore.
  • verb To venom; sting.
  • verb To discharge, as a sore; clot; curdle; cake.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English atter, ater, from Old English āttor, ǣttor, ātor ("poison"), from Proto-Germanic *aitran (“gland, matter”), from Proto-Indo-European *aid-, *oid- (“tumor, abscess”). Cognate with Scots attir ("corrupt matter, pus"), Scots atter, etter ("poison, venom"), Saterland Frisian Atter ("pus"), Dutch etter ("pus"), German Eiter ("poison, pus"), Danish edder, ædder ("venom"), Swedish etter ("poison, venom, virulence"), Norwegian eiter ("venom"), Icelandic eitur ("poison").

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Examples

Comments

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  • (n.) Poison; venom; corrupt matter from a sore.

    November 6, 2007

  • Weird. Is this word related to adder at all?

    Or only in the flattened pronunciation of Americans? ;)

    November 6, 2007

  • Could be a sort of mashup of adder and its German equivalent Natter, maybe?

    November 6, 2007

  • Not to be confused with attar...

    November 7, 2007