Adam's apple
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 The lump in the throat, usually more noticeable in men than in women; the laryngeal prominence.
"That same bunch which is seen on the foreside of the Neck, is called Adams Apple, because the common people have a beliefe, that by the judgement of God, a part of that fatal Apple, abode sticking in Adams Throat, and is so communicated to his posterity"
- 2 the largest cartilage of the larynx wordnet
- 3 Any of species Tabernaemontana divaricata of fragrant houseplants, native to southeast Asia.
- 4 tropical shrub having glossy foliage and fragrant nocturnal flowers with crimped or wavy corollas; northern India to Thailand wordnet
- 5 Any of hybrid species Musa × paradisiaca, of cultivated bananas.
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- 6 A citron (Citrus limetta, syn. of Citrus medica).
"The fourth [name of the citron] is named of diuers Pomum Assyrium, or Citron of Assyria, and may be Englished Adams apple, after the Italian name, and among the vulgar sort of Italians Lomie, of whom it is also called Pomum Adami, or Adams apple, and that came by the opinion of the commom rude people, who thinke it to be the same Apple, of which Adam did eate in Paradise when he transgressed Gods commandement"
Example
More examples"That same bunch which is seen on the foreside of the Neck, is called Adams Apple, because the common people have a beliefe, that by the judgement of God, a part of that fatal Apple, abode sticking in Adams Throat, and is so communicated to his posterity"
Etymology
Calque of Latin pomum Adami, which is found in the botanical sense from 1560 and the anatomical sense from 1600. According to the earliest sources, the anatomical usage derives from a common belief that Adam was punished by God for the fall of man by having a piece of the forbidden fruit lodged in his throat (see 1662 citation).