Emily Dickinson Lexicon

AD'AM, n.

In Heb. Ch. Syr. Eth. Ar., Man; primarily, the name of the human species, mankind; appropriately, the first Man, the progenitor of the human race. The word signifies form, shape, or suitable form; hence, species. As a verb, the word signifies, in Ethiopic, to please or be agreeable; in Arabic, to join, unite, or be accordant, to agree. It is evidently connected with דמה, Heb. Ch. Syr., to be like or equal, to form an image, to assimilate. Whence the sense of likeness, image, form, shape; Gr. δεμας, a body, like. [See Man.] Adam's apple, a species of citron, [see Citron;] also the prominent part of the throat. Adam's needle, the popular name of the yucca, a plant of four species, cultivated in gardens. Of the roots, the Indians make a kind of bread. [See Yucca.]