Where does “āter” come from?
āter (Old Swedish) comes from Old Norse aptr, from Proto-Germanic aftrą, from Proto-Indo-European h₂epoteros — further behind, further away.
Ancestry of “āter”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old Norse | aptr | back; again |
| 2 | Proto-Germanic | aftrą | back, backwards; again, once more |
| 3 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂epoteros | further behind, further away |