atter

/ˈætə/

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”).

Why this word is great

ATTER — [Noun] A poisonous bodily fluid, particularly venom or pus; also, moral corruption or noxious influence. From Middle English atter, 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"). Unlike "venom" (which is strictly animal-borne) or "bile" (which narrows to digestive bitterness), atter is the festering heart of toxicity—physical and metaphysical. It is the yellow ooze seeping from a wound, the viper’s drip from needle-fangs, the whispered lie that rots a friendship from within. A word thick with the weight of decay, atter reminds us that poison is not always swift; sometimes, it lingers.

noun

  1. 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.
  2. Moral corruption or corruptness; noxious or corrupt influence, poison to the soul, evil, anger, envy, hatred; destruction, death.
  3. Epithelium produced on the tongue.
  4. A scab; a dry sore.

verb

  1. to venom; sting
  2. to discharge, as a sore; clot; curdle; cake