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Webster 1913 Edition


dactyl

dac′tyl

(dăk′tĭl)
,
Noun.
[L.
dactylus
, Gr.
δάκτυλοσ
a finger, a dactyl. Cf.
Digit
.]
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.
[Gr. A finger; L. probably a shoot.] A poetical foot consisting of three syllables, the first long, and the others short, like the joints of a finger; as, tegmine, carmine.

Definition 2024


dactyl

dactyl

See also: dactyl-

English

Alternative forms

Noun

dactyl (plural dactyls)

  1. A poetical foot of three syllables (— ⏑ ⏑), one long followed by two short, or one accented followed by two unaccented.

Translations

Related terms

See also