/ˈædɚ/
OriginFrom Middle English nadder, addere, rebracketing of “a naddere” as “an addere”, from Old English nǣdre (“snake”), from Proto-West Germanic *nadrā, from Proto-Germanic *nadrǭ, from pre-Germanic *néh₁treh₂, variant of Proto-Indo-European *n̥h₁trih₂, from *(s)neh₁- (“to spin, twist”).
See also West Frisian njirre, Dutch adder, German Natter, Otter; also Welsh neidr, Latin natrīx (“watersnake”), Dutch naaien.
- obsoleteAny snake.
“CALIBAN: His spirits hear me, / And yet I needs must curse. But they'll nor pinch / Fright me with urchin-shows, pitch me i'th' mire, / Nor lead me like a firebrand in the dark / Out of my way, unless”
- BritishA small venomous serpent of the genus Vipera
“Entirely filled with the image of another, her heart, indeed, had the deaf ear of the adder, which heedeth not the voice of the charmer, charm he never so wisely.”
“These include the county's [Cumbria's] only venomous snake - the adder - which relies on exposed elements to successfully breed its young.”
- BritishA common European adder (Vipera berus).
- A puff adders, of Africa (genus Bitis).
- Canada, USA milk snake (Lampropeltis triangulum).
- Canada, USA hog-nosed snake, of genus Heterodon of harmless colubrid snakes found in North America
- Death adders (Acanthophis spp.), elapid snakes found in Southeast Asia and Australia
- A northern copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix mokasen), a venomous viper found in the eastern United States
- A sea stickleback or adder fish (Spinachia spinachia).
- Someone who or something which performs arithmetic addition; a machine for adding numbers.
- An electronic device that adds voltages, currents or frequencies.
- Something which adds or increases.
“They sought out cost adders with an eye toward eliminating them.”
- informalA person who has attention deficit disorder.
“Many ADDers become targets for bullies and are routinely harassed at school.”
Formsadders(plural) · edder(alternative, dialectal) · ADDers(plural)
Source: Wiktionary