▪ I. Adam1
(ˈædəm)
[Heb. ā-dām man.]
1. a. The name given in the Bible to the first man, the father of the human race; hence fig. as in the phrase Old Adam, the ‘old man’ of St. Paul (Rom. vi. 6, etc.): The unregenerate condition or character.
| a 1569 A. Kingsmill Godly Adv. (1580) 27 If you laied Adam aslepe, I meane, if you renounced all carnall affections. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, i. i. 29 Consideration like an Angell came, And whipt th' offending Adam out of him. 1846 Grote Greece (1862) II. vi. 165 An impatience to shake off the old social and political Adam. |
b. Phr. not to know (a person) from Adam: not to recognize him; (as) old as Adam: primevally old. Also, since Adam was a boy, etc.
| 1784 London Sessions Feb. 400/1 Some man stopped me, I do not know him from Adam. 1795 T. Wilkinson Wand. Patentee IV. 129 He was so great a stranger I should not have known him from our father Adam. 1839 Spirit of Times 26 Oct. 397/1 As great races..as have ever been run since Adam was a yearling. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop xxxviii, He called to see my Governor this morning,..and beyond that I don't know him from Adam. 1867 ‘Colonist’ Life's Work Austral. 82 Though old as Adam, love is still the theme that interests all hearts in all countries. 1900 Buchan Half-Hearted xx, I found people I didn't know from Adam drinking the old toasts. 1918 Mulford Man fr. Bar-20 ii. 25 You hunt up that pen you've had since Adam was a boy. |
2. = Adam's ale.
| a 1704 T. Brown Wks. 1760 IV. ii. (D.), A cup of cold Adam from the next purling spring. |
Comb. Adam's ale, -apple, -Flannel, -morsel, -Needle, -wine, q.v.
▪ II. Adam2
(ˈædəm)
The surname of the brothers Robert Adam (1728–92) and James Adam (1730–94) used attrib. or ellipt. (at first usu. in pl.) to designate buildings, furniture, etc., designed by them.
| 1872 Lady C. Schreiber Jrnl. (1911) I. 463 We got three very good ‘Adam’ pedestals. 1898 Lady's Realm July 389/1 Adams rooms. 1900 Jrnl. Soc. Arts XLVIII. 374/2 The ‘Adams’ is the most delicate and refined of all styles founded on the classic. 1903 Connoisseur Mar. 21 Adam, and other Furniture. 1914 H. A. Vachell Quinneys' iv. §1, The sweetest table, genuine Adam. 1918 J. Alfred Gotch Eng. Home ix. 280 Robert was the most gifted, and it is his work which gave rise to the well-known ‘Adam’ style. 1920 Galsworthy In Chancery i. xii. 99 The fine reading-room was decorated in the Adam style. 1926 ― Silver Spoon i. ii, A blend between Adam and Louis Quinze. 1926 Times 31 Mar. 28 Beautiful Adam Residence. |