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Webster 1913 Edition
dactyl
1.
(Pros.)
A poetical foot of three sylables (— ˘ ˘), one long followed by two short, or one accented followed by two unaccented;
as, L. tëgmĭnĕ, E. mer˝ciful; – so called from the similarity of its arrangement to that of the joints of a finger.
[Written also
dactyle
.] 2.
(Zool.)
(a)
A finger or toe; a digit.
(b)
The claw or terminal joint of a leg of an insect or crustacean.
Webster 1828 Edition
Dactyl
DACTYL
,Noun.