Adam In the Old Testament, first man, progenitor of mankind, created from dust by God in his own image. He and his wife Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden to become mortal after they ate forbidden fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Their sons were Seth, Cain, and Abel.

Adam The postulated male ancestor for all modern humans, who lived in Africa between about 100 000 and 200 000 years ago. ‘Adam’ is based on a change in the human Y chromosome that occurred at that time in one descendant of Adam and is now present in all human males, except for some Africans. See also MITOCHONDRIAL EVE.