E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Adam.
The old Adam; beat the offending Adam out of thee; the first Adam. Adam, as the head of unredeemed man, stands for “original sin,” or “man without regenerating grace.”
1
The second Adam; the new Adam, etc.; I will give you the new Adam. Jesus Christ, as the convenant head, is so called; also the “new birth unto righteousness.”
2
When Adam delved and Eve span. “Au temps passé, Berthe filait.” This Bertha was the wife of King Pepin.
3
“When Adam delved and Eve span,
Who was then the gentleman?”
Adam. A sergeant, bailiff, or any one clad in buff, or a skin-coat, like Adam.
4
“Not that Adam that kept Paradise, but that Adam that keeps the prison.”—Shakespeare: Comedy of Errors, iv. 3.
A faithful Adam. A faithful old servant. The character is taken from Shakespeare’s comedy of As You Like It, where a retainer of that name, who had served the family sixty-three years, offers to accompany Orlando in his flight, and to share with him his thrifty savings of 500 crowns.
