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adder . In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
adder , but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
adder in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
adder you have here. The definition of the word
adder will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
adder , as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
The head of the common European adder (Vipera berus )
The sea stickleback or adder-fish (Spinachia spinachia )
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From 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 .
Noun
adder (plural adders )
( obsolete ) Any snake .
1610–1611 (date written) , William Shakespeare , “The Tempest ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio ), London: Isaac Iaggard , and Ed Blount , published 1623 , →OCLC , :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—
A name loosely applied to various snakes more or less resembling a viper .
( chiefly British ) A small venomous serpent of the genus Vipera
1834 , L E L , chapter XXX, in Francesca Carrara. In Three Volumes.">… ] , volume III, London: Richard Bentley , , (successor to Henry Colburn ), →OCLC , page 245 :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.
2021 August 25, Nick Brodrick, “Flourishing Flora and Fauna”, in RAIL , number 938 , page 51 :These include the county's only venomous snake - the adder - which relies on exposed elements to successfully breed its young.
A common European adder (Vipera berus ).
A puff adders , of Africa (genus Bitis ).
( US , Canada ) Any of several small nonvenomous snakes resembling adders
A milk snake (Lampropeltis triangulum ).
A hog-nosed snake , of genus Heterodon of harmless colubrid snakes found in North America
Certain venomous snakes resembling other adders
Death adder s (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 ).
Derived terms
Translations
snake
Afrikaans: adder (af)
Armenian: օձ (hy) ( ōj )
Bulgarian: змия (bg) ( zmija )
Chinese:
Mandarin: 毒蛇 (zh) ( dúshé ) , 蝰蛇 (zh) ( kuíshé )
Dutch: adder (nl) f
Finnish: käärme (fi)
Galician: cóbrega (gl) f , pezoira f , liscáncere m , cobra (gl) f , quiobra f , becha (gl) f
Georgian: გველი (ka) ( gveli )
German: Natter (de) f
Indonesian: senawan (id)
Irish: nathair f
Japanese: 毒蛇 (ja) ( どくへび, doku-hebi )
Korean: 독사(毒蛇) (ko) ( doksa )
Low German: Adder (nds) f
Macedonian: шарка f ( šarka )
Portuguese: cobra (pt) f , serpente (pt) f
Russian: змея́ (ru) f ( zmejá ) , гадю́ка (ru) f ( gadjúka )
Sanskrit: पृदाकु (sa) m ( pṛdāku )
Scottish Gaelic: nathair f
Serbo-Croatian: guja (sh) f
Sicilian: culorbia f , scursuni m
Spanish: serpiente (es) f , culebra (es) f
Thai: อสรพิษ (th) ( à-sɔ̌ɔ-rá-pít ) , งู (th) ( nguu )
Ukrainian: змія́ (uk) f ( zmijá )
Zazaki: zıngırok
viper
Afrikaans: adder (af)
Akan: nanka
Armenian: իժ (hy) ( iž )
Azerbaijani: gürzə
Bulgarian: пепелянка (bg) ( pepeljanka )
Catalan: escurçó (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 蝰蛇 (zh) ( kuíshé )
Czech: zmije (cs) f
Danish: hugorm c
Dutch: adder (nl) m
Estonian: rästik (et)
Finnish: kyy (fi)
French: vipère (fr) f
Galician: naia f , sacaveira f , áspide m , bichorro m
Georgian: გველგესლა ( gvelgesla )
German: Otter (de) f , Viper (de) f , Kreuzotter (de) f
Greek: οχιά (el) f ( ochiá ) , έχιδνα (el) f ( échidna )
Ancient: ἔχιδνα f ( ékhidna )
Ido: vipero (io)
Ingrian: jaadumato , kirjava mato , gadjukka
Irish: nathair nimhe f
Japanese: クサリヘビ ( kusari-hebi ) , 鎖蛇 (ja) ( くさりへび, kusari-hebi )
Latin: aspis f
Latvian: odze f
Low German: Adder (nds) f ; Krüüzadder f , Kriizadder f
Macedonian: гуја f ( guja )
Mari:
Eastern Mari: шемгишке ( šemgiške )
Western Mari: шим кӹшкӹ ( šim kÿškÿ )
Polish: żmija (pl) f
Portuguese: víbora (pt) f
Romanian: viperă (ro) f
Russian: гадю́ка (ru) f ( gadjúka )
Sanskrit: पृदाकु (sa) m ( pṛdāku )
Serbo-Croatian: guja (sh) f
Sicilian: lìpira f , scursuni m
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: zmija f
Spanish: víbora (es) f
Swedish: huggorm (sv)
Ukrainian: гадю́ка (uk) f ( hadjúka )
Etymology 2
From add + -er .
Noun
adder (plural adders )
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.
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
Noun
adder (plural adders , diminutive addertjie )
viper , adder
Dutch
Etymology
From Middle Dutch adder , adre , rebracketing of nadder , nadre , from Old Dutch *nadra , from Proto-West Germanic *nadrā .
Pronunciation
Noun
adder m or f (plural adders or adderen , diminutive addertje n )
viper , adder ; snake of the family Viperidae
common viper , Vipera berus
Hypernyms
Derived terms
Descendants
Anagrams
Norwegian Bokmål
Verb
adder
imperative of addere
Old Prussian
Etymology
Borrowed from Early German adder , dialectal variant of oder ( “ or ” ) .
Conjunction
adder
or
but , however
1561 , Martin Luther , translated by Abel Will & Paul Megott, Stas Likuts Catechismus , →OCLC , page 61 , line 11 :Kas ſtwi druwē bhe Crixtits wijrſt / ſtas wijrſt Deiwuts / kas adder ni Druwe / ſtas wijrſt perklantīts. That, who believes and is baptized, shall be blessed; that, however , who doesn't believe, shall be damned.
only , but
References
Mažiulis, Vytautas (1988 ) “adder”, in Prūsų kalbos etimologijos žodynas (in Lithuanian), volume 1, Vilnius: Mokslas, page 48