A mother and father to all (4)

I believe the answer is:

adam

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'father to all' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.

'a mother' is the wordplay.
'mother' becomes 'dam' (female parent of an animal).
'a'+'dam'='ADAM'

'and' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for adam that I've seen before include "Man No. 1" , "Faith, for example" , "Eves husband" , "First man in the Bible" , "__ Smith, author of The Wealth of Nations" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.

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