adder
10 dictionary results for: adder
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
ad·der1 
[ad-er] Pronunciation Key
[ad-er] Pronunciation Key –noun
| 1. | the common European viper, Vipera berus. |
| 2. | any of various other venomous or harmless snakes resembling the viper. |
[Origin: bef. 950; late ME; r. ME nadder (a nadder becoming an adder by misdivision; cf. apron), OE næddre; c. OS nādra, OHG nātara (G Natter), ON nathra snake, Goth nadrs adder, OIr nathir snake, L natrix water snake]
]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| add·er 1
(ād'ər) Pronunciation Key
n. One that adds, especially a computational device that performs arithmetic addition. |
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| ad·der 2
(ād'ər) Pronunciation Key
n.
[Middle English, from an addre, alteration of a naddre, a snake, from Old English nǣdre, snake.] Word History: The biblical injunction to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves looks somewhat alien in the Middle English guise "Loke ye be prudent as neddris and symple as dowves." Neddris, which is perhaps the strangest-looking word in this Middle English passage, would be adders in Modern English, with a different meaning and form. Adder, an example of specialization in meaning, no longer refers to just any serpent or snake, as it once did, but now denotes only specific kinds of snakes. Adder also illustrates a process known as false splitting, or juncture loss: the word came from Old English nǣdre and kept its n into the Middle English period, but later during that stage of the language people started analyzing the phrase a naddre as an addre—the false splitting that has given us adder. |
(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| vi·per
(vī'pər) Pronunciation Key
n.
[Middle English vipere, from Old French, from Latin vīpera, snake, contraction of *vīvipera : vīvus, alive; see gwei- in Indo-European roots + parere, to give birth; see perə-1 in Indo-European roots.] |
(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
adder
adder
O.E. næddre "a snake," from W.Gmc. *nædro "a snake" (cf. O.N. naðra, M.Du. nadre, Ger. Natter, Goth. nadrs), from PIE base *netr- (cf. L. natrix "water snake," probably by folk-association with nare "to swim;" O.Ir. nathir, Welsh neidr "adder"). The modern form represents a faulty separation 14c.-16c. into an adder, for which see also apron, auger, nickname, humble pie, umpire. Nedder is still a northern Eng. dialect form. Folklore connection with deafness is via Psalm lviii.1-5. The adder is said to stop up its ears to avoid hearing the snaker charmer called in to drive it away, though whether this tradition can account for the O.T. reference I cannot say. Adder-bolt (1483) was a former name for "dragonfly."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
| adder | |
noun | |
| 1. | a person who adds numbers |
| 2. | a machine that adds numbers |
| 3. | small terrestrial viper common in northern Eurasia |
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Adder
Add"er\, n. [See Add.] One who, or that which, adds; esp., a machine for adding numbers.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Adder
Ad"der\, n. [OE. addere, naddere, eddre, AS. n[ae]dre, adder, snake; akin to OS. nadra, OHG. natra, natara, Ger. natter, Goth. nadrs, Icel. na[eth]r, masc., na[eth]ra, fem.: cf. W. neidr, Gorn. naddyr, Ir. nathair, L. natrix, water snake. An adder is for a nadder.]1. A serpent. [Obs.] "The eddre seide to the woman." --Wyclif. Gen. iii. 4. ) 2. (Zo["o]l.) (a) A small venomous serpent of the genus Vipera. The common European adder is the Vipera (or Pelias) berus. The puff adders of Africa are species of Clotho. (b) In America, the term is commonly applied to several harmless snakes, as the milk adder, puffing adder, etc. (c) Same as Sea Adder. Note: In the sculptures the appellation is given to several venomous serpents, -- sometimes to the horned viper (Cerastles).
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Adder
(Ps. 140:3; Rom. 3:13, "asp") is the rendering of, (1.) Akshub ("coiling" or "lying in wait"), properly an asp or viper, found only in this passage. (2.) Pethen ("twisting"), a viper or venomous serpent identified with the cobra (Naja haje) (Ps. 58:4; 91:13); elsewhere "asp." (3.) Tziphoni ("hissing") (Prov. 23:32); elsewhere rendered "cockatrice," Isa. 11:8; 14:29; 59:5; Jer. 8:17, as it is here in the margin of the Authorized Version. The Revised Version has "basilisk." This may have been the yellow viper, the Daboia xanthina, the largest and most dangerous of the vipers of Palestine. (4.) Shephiphon ("creeping"), occurring only in Gen. 49:17, the small speckled venomous snake, the "horned snake," or cerastes. Dan is compared to this serpent, which springs from its hiding-place on the passer-by.
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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