- Adam's apple
- A familiar anatomic feature in the front of the neck that is due to the forward protrusion of the thyroid cartilage, the largest and most prominent cartilage of the larynx. The thyroid cartilage tends to enlarge at adolescence, particularly in males. Enlargement of the Adam's apple is considered, like pubic hair growth, one of the secondary sexual characteristics. Origin of the term: It is usually said that Adam's apple takes its name from the biblical story about Adam, Eve. the serpent and the apple. A piece of the forbidden fruit stuck in Adam’s throat and created the anatomic Adam's apple. So the story goes. However, it may be wrong. Adam’s apple in Latin is “pomum Adami.” This may have been a mistranslation of the Hebrew “tappuach ha adam” which also means male bump. Between Latin and English there's many a slip. Alternate term: The medical term (which is rarely used) for the Adam’s apple is “prominentia laryngea” (prominence of the larynx).
* * *SYN: laryngeal prominence.
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Ad·am's ap·ple .ad-əm-'zap-əl n the projection in the front of the neck that is formed by the thyroid cartilage and is particularly prominent in males Adam biblical character. According to the Bible, Adam was the first man, the husband of Eve, and later the father of Cain and Abel. Adam and Eve lived in the garden of Eden until they ate a forbidden fruit, traditionally held to be an apple. As a punishment they were expelled from Eden. Adam lived a total of 930 years. The term Adam's apple arose through a misinterpretation of the Hebrew for „protuberance on man” used to denote this anatomical part. The late Hebrew word for protuberance is very similar to the word for apple, and Adam in Hebrew can refer to „man” in general as well as the biblical figure. Thus the expression was misinterpreted, perhaps owing to the association of Adam with apples.* * *
a projection, lying just under the skin, of the thyroid cartilage of the larynx.* * *
prominentia laryngea.
Medical dictionary. 2011.
