Adam's apple

The Adam's apple, or laryngeal prominence, is the lump or protrusion in the human neck formed by the angle of the thyroid cartilage surrounding the larynx seen especially in males.

For other uses, see Adam's apple (disambiguation).
Adam's apple
Front view of the Adam's apple (laryngeal prominence)
Details
Precursor4th and 6th pharyngeal arches
Identifiers
LatinProminentia laryngea
TA98A06.2.02.003
TA2968
FMA55304
Anatomical terminology

Structure

The structure of the Adam's apple forms a bump under the skin. It is typically larger and noticeable in adult males, because its size in males tends to increase considerably during puberty[1] as a result of hormonal changes. In females, where it sits on the upper edge of the thyroid cartilage, the bump is much less visible or not discernable.[2]

Function

The Adam's apple, in relation with the thyroid cartilage which forms it, helps protect the walls and the frontal part of the larynx, including the vocal cords (which are located directly behind it).

Another function of the Adam's apple is related to the deepening of the voice. During adolescence, the thyroid cartilage grows together with the larynx. Consequently, the laryngeal prominence grows in size mainly in men. Together, a larger soundboard is made up in phonation apparatus and, as a result, the man gets a deeper voice note.[3][4]

Society and culture

Cosmetic surgery to reshape the Adam's apple is called chondrolaryngoplasty (thyroid cartilage reduction). The surgery is effective, such that complications tend to be few and, if present, transient.[5]

Etymology
An example of male laryngeal prominence

The English phrase "Adam's apple" is a calque of Latin pomum Adami, which is found in European medical texts from as early as 1600.[6] The English "Adam's Apple" is found in a 1662 translation of Thomas Bartholin's 1651 work Anatomia.[7]

The 1662 citation includes an explanation for the origin of the phrase: a piece of forbidden fruit was supposedly embedded in the throat of Adam, who according to the Abrahamic religions was the first man:[7]

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

This etymology is also proposed by "Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable" and the 1913 edition of Webster's Dictionary.[8] The story is not found in the Bible or other Judeo-Christian or Islamic writings.[9]

Linguist Alexander Gode has claimed that the Latin phrase to designate the laryngeal prominence was probably translated incorrectly from the beginning. The phrase in Latin was "pomum Adami" (literally: 'Adam's apple'). This, in turn, came from the Hebrew "tappuach ha adam" meaning "apple of man". The confusion lies in the fact that in Hebrew language the proper name "Adam" (אדם) literally means "man", and the word for "apple" is similar to the word "tafuach" which means "swollen", thus in combination: the swelling of a man.[10][11] Proponents of this version contend that the subsequent phrases in Latin and other Romance languages represent a mistranslation from the start.[12]

The medical term "prominentia laryngea" (laryngeal prominence) was introduced by the Basle Nomina Anatomica in 1895.[13]

In the American South, goozle is used colloquially to describe the Adam's apple, likely derived from guzzle.[14][15][16][17]

Additional images
  • Laryngeal prominence
  • Laryngeal prominence
  • Laryngeal prominence

See also
This article uses anatomical terminology.

References
  1. "Prominentia laryngea Medical Term Medical Dictionary". Medicine Online. Archived from the original on 2013-12-25. Retrieved 2013-02-27.
  2. "Laringe". Sisbib.unmsm.edu.pe. Retrieved 2013-02-27.
  3. P. J. Bentley (1980), "Endocrine Pharmacology: Physiological Basis and Therapeutic Applications", CUP Archive, pág 240
  4. "Pubertad, nuestras diferencias". Esmas.com. Archived from the original on 2004-09-08. Retrieved 2013-02-27.
  5. Wolfort FG, Dejerine ES, Ramos DJ, Parry RG (1990). "Chondrolaryngoplasty for appearance". Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 86 (3): 464–9, discussion 470. doi:10.1097/00006534-199009000-00012. PMID 2385664.
  6. du Laurens, André (1600). Historia Anatomica Humani Corporis. Paris. p. 510. Huius supreme pars βρόγχος, quibusdam vulgò morsus & pomum Adami appelatur.
  7. Bartholin, Thomas (1662) [1651]. Bartholinus Anatomy. Translated by Culpeper, Nicholas; Cole, Abdiah. London: Peter Cole. p. 123. 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 [Protuberantia illa in collo anterius conspicua, dicitur Pomum Adami; [quia vulgo persuasum in Adami faucibus pomi fatalis partem ex pœna Divina remansisse, & ad posteros translatam]]
  8. E. Cobham Brewer (1810–1897). Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898. "Adam's Apple"
  9. George Crabb (1823), "Universal technological dictionary", Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy, "Pomum Ada'mi"
  10. William S. Haubrich (2003), "Medical Meanings: A Glossary of Word Origins", ACP Press, pág 5.
  11. "Adam's apple". Medicine.academic.ru. Retrieved 2013-02-27.
  12. Robert B. Taylor (2008), "White Coat Tales: Medicine's Heroes, Heritage and Misadventures", Springer, pág 82.
  13. Axel Karenberg, Amor, Äskulap & Co.: klassische Mythologie in der Sprache der modernen Medizin, Schattauer, Stuttgart 2006, S. 128-129.
  14. Morris, Evan (November 2008). "Goozle « The Word Detective". The Word Detective. Retrieved 22 December 2014. If we follow 'goozle' back a bit further, we come to an interesting intersection with a far more common word, 'guzzle.'
  15. Roy Blount Jr. (29 September 2009). Alphabet Juice: The Energies, Gists, and Spirits of Letters, Words, and Combinations Thereof; Their Roots, Bones, Innards, Piths, Pips, and Secret Parts, Tinctures, Tonics, and Essences; With Examples of Their Usage Foul and Savory. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-1-4299-6042-7. The Dictionary of Smoky Mountain English defines google (or goozle) as 'the throat, Adam's apple.'
  16. Roy Wilder (1 September 1998). You All Spoken Here. University of Georgia Press. p. 55. ISBN 978-0-8203-2029-8. Adam's apple; goozle; the projection formed by the thyroid cartilage in the neck.
  17. "Goozle". Dictionary of American Regional English. Harvard College. Retrieved 28 November 2020. The throat as a whole, or spec the gullet, windpipe, or Adam’s apple. chiefly South, South Midland
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