Before Eve, did he mean a lot to Ada? (4)
I believe the answer is:
adam
'before eve did he' is the definition.
The answer is a person as well as being a singular noun. This is suggested by the definition.
'a lot to ada?' is the wordplay.
'a lot' becomes 'm'.
'to' means one lot of letters go next to another (I've seen this in other clues).
'm' put after 'ada' is 'ADAM'.
'mean' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for adam that I've seen before include "First man of Genesis" , "- - Bede, novel" , "Eves husband" , "Early man" , "The first known ancestor" .)