Definition of dactyl Dactyl

/dæˈktɪl/ - [daktil] - Dac•tyl

We found 10 definitions of dactyl from 6 different sources.

What does dactyl mean?

Noun Plural: dactyls
dactyl - a metrical unit with stressed-unstressed-unstressed syllables
		metrical foot, metrical unit, foot (prosody) a group of 2 or 3 syllables forming the basic unit of poetic rhythm
dactyl - a finger or toe in human beings or corresponding body part in other vertebrates
		digit
		appendage, extremity, member a part that is joined to something larger
		craniate, vertebrate animals having a bony or cartilaginous skeleton with a segmented spinal column and a large brain enclosed in a skull or cranium
		phalanx any of the bones of the fingers or toes
		minimus the fifth digit; the little finger or little toe
		finger one of the parts of a glove that provides covering for a finger or thumb
		toe the part of footwear that provides a covering for the toes

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

dactyl (n.)
A poetical foot of three sylables (-- ~ ~), one long followed by two short, or one accented followed by two unaccented; as, L. tegm/n/, E. mer\b6ciful; -- so called from the similarity of its arrangement to that of the joints of a finger.
dactyl (n.)
A finger or toe; a digit.
dactyl (n.)
The claw or terminal joint of a leg of an insect or crustacean.

dactyl
One of the five extremities that can be found on a hand or a foot.
dactyl
A type of meter consisting of one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables in accentual verse or one long syllable followed by two short syllables in quantitative verse.

dactyl
dak′til, n. in Latin and Greek poetry, a foot of three syllables, one long followed by two short, so called from its likeness to the joints of a finger; in English, a foot of three syllables, with the first accented, as mer'rily, vi'olate.—adjs. Dac′tylar, Dactyl′ic, relating to or consisting chiefly of dactyls.—ns. Dactyl′iomancy, divination by means of a finger-ring; Dac′tylist; Dactylog′raphy, the science of finger-rings; Dactylol′ogy, the art of talking with the fingers, like the deaf and dumb. [L. dactylus—Gr. daktylos, a finger.]