アフラ・マズダーが生み出したヤザタの一柱で、アフラ・マズダーの息子とされる<ref>カーティス,薩摩訳 2002, p. 23.</ref><ref>ヒネルズ,井本ら訳 1993, p. 66.</ref>。パフラヴィー語では'''アードゥル''' (Adur)、'''アーダル''' (Adar) と呼ばれる<ref>ヒネルズ,井本ら訳 1993, p. 65.</ref>。
アヴェスター語において、''ātar''は熱源や光源の属性であり、その主格単数形は''ātarš''であり、ペルシア語の''ātaš''(火)の源である。
In the [[Avestan language]], ''ātar'' is an attribute of sources of heat and light, of which the nominative singular form is ''ātarš'', source of [[Persian language|Persian]] ''ātaš'' (fire).
In the [[Avestan language]], ''ātar'' is an attribute of sources of heat and light, of which the nominative singular form is ''ātarš'', source of [[Persian language|Persian]] ''ātaš'' (fire). It was once thought to be etymologically related to the [[Avestan]] ''āθrauuan'' / ''aθaurun'' ([[Vedic Sanskrit|Vedic]] ''[[atharvan]]''), a type of priest, but that is now considered unlikely (Boyce, 2002:16). The ultimate etymology of ''ātar'', previously unknown (Boyce, 2002:1), is now believed to be from the [[Proto-Indo-European language|Indo-European]] *h<sub>x</sub>eh<sub>x</sub>tr- 'fire'. This would make it a cognate to [[Latin]] ''[[wikt:ater#Latin|ater]]'' (black) and to [[Albanian language|Albanian]] ''[[vatër]]'' (definite form: ''vatra'') "hearth", "fireplace", which was loaned to [[Romanian language|Romanian]] ''vatră'' "hearth", "fireplace", and thereafter spread to [[Serbo-Croatian language|Serbo-Croat]] ''vatra'' "fire" and [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]] ''vatra'' "bonfire".<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor = 40997529|title = The Prehistory of the Albanian Vowel System: A Preliminary Exploration|journal = Studies in Slavic and General Linguistics|volume = 32:Evidence and Counter-Evidence: Essays in honour of Frederik Kortlandt. v 1: Balto-Slavic and Indo-European Linguistics|pages = 591–608|last1 = Vermeer|first1 = Willem|year = 2008|quote="Romanian also famously borrowed ''vatër'' 'hearth' with patently Tosk ''va-'' and proceeded to spread it to wherever Vlachs expanded subsequently."}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tzU3RIV2BWIC&q=atars&pg=PA202 |title=Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture - James Mallory - Google Boeken |access-date=2012-08-27|isbn=9781884964985 |last1=Mallory |first1=J. P. |last2=Adams |first2=Douglas Q. |year=1997 |publisher=Taylor & Francis }}</ref>
In later Zoroastrianism, ''ātar'' ([[Persian language|Middle Persian]]: 𐭠𐭲𐭥𐭥𐭩 ''ādar'' or ''ādur'') is iconographically conflated with fire itself, which in Middle Persian is 𐭠𐭲𐭧𐭱 ''ātaxsh'', one of the primary objects of Zoroastrian symbolism.