adder
nounUS /ˈædɚ/
Etymology 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.
9 senses
- 1Any snake.
- 2A small venomous serpent of the genus Vipera
- 3A common European adder (Vipera berus).
- 4A puff adder, of Africa (genus Bitis).
- 5A milk snake (Lampropeltis triangulum).
- 6A hog-nosed snake, of genus Heterodon of harmless…
- 7Death adders (Acanthophis spp.), elapid snakes found in…
- 8A northern copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix mokasen)…
- 9A sea stickleback or adder fish (Spinachia spinachia).
Obsolete Any 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 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—1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:
› A name loosely applied to various snakes…
UK A 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.1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXX, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 245:
- These include the county's [Cumbria's] only venomous snake - the adder - which relies on exposed elements to successfully breed its young.2021 August 25, Nick Brodrick, “Flourishing Flora and Fauna”, in RAIL, number 938, page 51:
› A name loosely applied to various snakes… › A small venomous serpent of the genus Vipera
UK A common European adder (Vipera berus).
› A name loosely applied to various snakes…
A puff adder, of Africa (genus Bitis).
› A name loosely applied to various snakes… › Any of several small nonvenomous snakes…
› A name loosely applied to various snakes… › Certain venomous snakes resembling other adders
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).
- Derived terms
- adder bead, adderbolt, adder fish, adder fly, adderlike, adder mouth, adder stone, adderwort, butterfly adder, common death adder, deaf adder, death adder, Gaboon adder, hissing adder, horned adder, Kimberley death adder, night adder, pit adder, pit-adder, puff adder, sea adder, water adder