The larynx is a canal formed of cartilages, whose various movements regulate the voice. It is situated in the median line in the upper and anterior part of the neck. It can readily be felt from the exterior, and is commonly called "Adam's Apple."  It forms the commencement of the wind-pipe, and in shape is cylindrical below and prismatic above. It is larger in males than in females, which accounts in a measure for the different quality of the voice between the sexes.

It is composed of five cartilages; viz., thyroid, cricoid, two arytenoid, and epiglottis. The thyroid is the largest; it occupies the upper anterior portion of the larynx. The cricoid is next in size, and situated at the base of the larynx. Its form is that of a laterally-compressed thick ring. The arytenoid cartilages are two in number, pyramidal in shape, and situated at the upper and back portion of the larynx. The epiglottis is a thin, oval, cartilaginous plate, behind the root of the tongue, and attached to the angle of the larynx; it resembles a leaf in shape, and is perforated with numerous foramina or holes. During deglutition it is pressed over the rima glottidis, thus preventing either solids or liquids from entering the respiratory tract.

Within the larynx are two ligaments on either side. The inferior ligaments are usually called the vocal chords, though they are more properly ligaments. The space between them is called the rima glottidis, and the space between the superior ligaments is the glottis. The larynx is lined with mucous membrane, inflammation of which constitutes laryngitis.