Notes :The meaning 'father' (somewhat expectable from a root like ata-) is actually present in Tamil and Malayalam, but nowhere else in Dravidian. The archaicness of this meaning in Tamil cannot be excluded; more probable, however, is the idea that in Tamil the word has developed a parallel masculine stem by analogy with *ápa- q. v. (the latter does have 'masculine' meanings outside of Tamil). // Present in 4/6 branches.
