atero

Unknown. It may be connected with 𐌀𐌕𐌓𐌖 (atru, “black”), possibly with a semantic connection between the color black and evil. It may also be from *ap-teros, a possible Proto-Italic comparative adjective that may have acquired a new meaning akin to Latin dēterior. It may also be connected with Latin alter, as Festus states that some associated the term alter with evil and ill-omens during augury.

atero (accusative singular) (late Iguvine)

1. The meaning of this term is uncertain. Possibilities include: uncertain meaning but certainly refers to something bad, evil, contemptible

• Buck, Carl Darling (1904), A Grammar of Oscan and Umbrian: With a Collection of Inscriptions and a Glossary
• Poultney, James Wilson (1959), The Bronze Tables of Iguvium‎^[1], Baltimore: American Philological Association
• Sextus Pompeius Festus; the Deacon Paul; Marcus Verrius Flaccus; Karl Otfried Müller (2nd-century CE), De verborum significatione quae supersunt cum Pauli epitome;‎^[2] (quotation in Latin; overall work in Latin), Lipsia, Weidmann, page 7: “alter ei pro non bono ponitur, ut in auguriis altera cum appellatur avis quae utique prospera non est; sic aliier nonnumquam pro adverso dicitur et malo”