adder

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See also: Adder

Englisch

WOTD – 11 January 2016
The head of the common European adder (Vipera berus)
The sea stickleback or adder-fish (Lua error in Module:parameters at line 822: Parameter "ver" is not used by this template.)

Pronunciation

  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 348: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "US" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈædɚ/
  • Audio (AU):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ædə(ɹ)

Etymology 1

From Middle English nadder, addere, rebracketing of “a naddere” as “an addere”, from Old English nǣdre, nǣddre (“snake, serpent, viper, adder”), from Proto-Germanic *nadrǭ (“snake, viper”) (compare West Frisian njirre, Dutch adder, German Natter, Otter), from pre-Germanic *néh₁treh₂, variant of Proto-Indo-European *n̥h₁trih₂ (compare Welsh neidr, Latin natrīx (“watersnake”)), from *(s)neh₁- (“to spin, twist”) (compare Dutch naaien).

Alternative forms

Nomen

adder (plural adders)

  1. (obsolete) Any snake.
    • 1610-11, William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act II Scene 2
      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 he bid 'em; but
      For every trifle are they set upon me,
      Sometimes like apes that mow and chatter at me,
      And after bite me; then like hedgehogs, which
      Lie tumbling in my barefoot way, and mount
      Their pricks at my footfall; sometimes am I
      All wound with adders, who with their cloven tongues
      Do hiss me into madness—
      [...]
  2. A name loosely applied to various snakes more or less resembling the viper; a viper.
    1. (chiefly British) A small venomous serpent of the genus Vipera
      • 2021 August 25, Nick Brodrick, “Flourishing Flora and Fauna”, in RAIL, number 938, page 51:
        These include the county's [Cumbria's] only venomous snake - the adder - which relies on exposed elements to successfully breed its young.
      1. The common European adder(Please check if this is already defined at target. Replace {{vern}} with a regular link if already defined. Add novern=1 if not defined.) (Vipera berus).
    2. The puff adders, of Africa (genus Lua error in Module:parameters at line 822: Parameter "ver" is not used by this template.).
    3. (US, Canada) Any of several small nonvenomous snakes resembling adders
      1. Lampropeltis triangulum (milk snake).
      2. Lua error in Module:parameters at line 822: Parameter "ver" is not used by this template. spp. (hog-nosed snakes), a genus of harmless colubrid snakes found in North America
    4. Certain venomous snakes resembling other adders
      1. Acanthophis spp. (death adders), elapid snakes found in Southeast Asia and Australia
      2. Lua error in Module:parameters at line 822: Parameter "ver" is not used by this template., the northern copperhead, a venomous viper found in the eastern United States
    5. A sea stickleback or adder fish (Lua error in Module:parameters at line 822: Parameter "ver" is not used by this template.).

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

From add +‎ -er.

Nomen

adder (plural adders)

  1. Someone who or something which performs arithmetic addition; a machine for adding numbers.
  2. An electronic device that adds voltages, currents or frequencies.
  3. Something which adds oder increases.
    They sought out cost adders with an eye toward eliminating them.

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

Anagrams

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch adder, from Middle Dutch adder, adre, misdivison of nadder, nadre, from Old Dutch *nadra, from Proto-Germanic *nadrǭ.

Pronunciation

Nomen

adder (plural adders, diminutive addertjie)

  1. viper, adder

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch adder, adre, misdivison of nadder, nadre, from Old Dutch *nadra, from Proto-West Germanic *nadrā.

Pronunciation

Nomen

adder m or f (plural adders or adderen, diminutive addertje n)

  1. viper, adder; snake of the family Viperidae
  2. common viper, Vipera berus

Hypernyms

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Afrikaans: adder
  • Negerhollands: adder

Anagrams

Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

adder

  1. (deprecated template usage) imperative of addere

Old Prussian

Conjunction

adder

  1. oder
    wāiklis adder mērgā - boy or girl
  2. but
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