atter
/ˈætəɹ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 1.65 in modern English
5
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Poisonous bodily fluid, especially venom of a venomous animal, such as a snake, dragon or other reptile; corrupt or morbid matter from the body, such as pus from a sore or wound; bitter substance, such as bile.
British usage; Archaic
noun
Moral corruption or corruptness; noxious or corrupt influence, poison to the soul, evil, anger, envy, hatred; destruction, death.
Archaic
Etymology
From Middle English atter, ater, from Old English āttor, ǣttor, ātor (“poison”), from Proto-West Germanic *aitr, from Proto-Germanic *aitrą (“gland, matter”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyd-, *h₂oyd- (“tumor, abscess”), related to Ancient Greek οἶδος (oîdos, “swelling, tumour, abscess, produced by internal action”). Cognate with Scots attir (“corrupt matter, pus”), Scots atter, etter (“poison, venom”), Shetlandic eter (“poison; bitter cold”), Old Norse eitr, Icelandic eitur (“poison”), Faroese eitur, Norwegian eiter (“venom”), Swedish etter (“poison, venom, virulence”), Danish edder, ædder (“venom”), Saterland Frisian Atter (“pus”), Dutch etter (“pus”), German Eiter (“poison, pus”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: atter, āttor, *aitr, *aitrą, *h₂eyd-
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈætəɹ/
- British English: /ˈætə/
Usage
Inflected Forms
atters (plural)
attir (alternative, Scotland)
etter (alternative, Scotland)
atters (present, singular)
attering (participle, present)
attered (participle, past)
attered (past)
Derived Forms
Phrases
atter-pile