Adobe (pronounced uh-doh-bee) is a Spanish-American word for the sun-dried clay used by the Indians for building in some of the south-western United States. This method of brick making was imported in the 16th century by Spaniards from Mexico and Peru. A distinction is sometimes made between the smaller adobes, which are about the size of ordinary baked bricks, and the larger adobines, some of which are as much as from one to two yards long.
In more modern usage, the term "adobe" has come to mean a style of architecture that is popular in the arid climates of North America. Cf. stucco.
Adobe is from the Spanish adobar which means "to plaster" and is traceable through
Arabic to an Egyptian hieroglyph meaning brick.
Source: Project Guetenberg Encyclopedia Vol 1. Thereafter edited on Wikipedia.
For the software company, see Adobe Systems