Hypertext Webster Gateway: "adder"
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary (easton)
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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Adder \Add"er\, n. [See {Add}.]
One who, or that which, adds; esp., a machine for adding
numbers.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
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}).
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
adder
n 1: a machine or person that adds
2: small terrestrial viper common in northern Eurasia [syn: {common
viper}, {Vipera berus}]
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