Etymology

atter

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Today it means: 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. Full definition →

Middle English atter ← Old English āttor ← Proto-West Germanic *aitr
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*h₂eyd-
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*aitrą“gland, matter”
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*aitr
  4. Old English · inherited fromāttor
  5. Middle English · inherited fromatter
  6. English todayatter

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”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.