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View synonyms for dactyl

dactyl

1

[ dak-til ]

noun

  1. Prosody. a foot of three syllables, one long followed by two short in quantitative meter, or one stressed followed by two unstressed in accentual meter, as in gently and humanly. :
  2. a finger or toe.


Dactyl

2
or Dak·tyl

[ dak-til ]

noun

Classical Mythology.
plural Dactyls, Dactyli [dak, -ti-lahy].
  1. any of a number of beings dwelling on Mount Ida and working as metalworkers and magicians.

-dactyl

3
  1. variant of -dactylous, especially with nouns:

    pterodactyl.

dactyl

/ ˈdæktɪl /

noun

  1. Also calleddactylic prosody a metrical foot of three syllables, one long followed by two short ( ) Compare bacchius
  2. zoology any digit of a vertebrate
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word History and Origins

Origin of dactyl1

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin dactylus < Greek dáktylos finger, a dactyl, referring to the three joints of the finger

Origin of dactyl2

< Greek Dáktyloi ( Idaîoi ) (Idaean) craftsmen or wizards (plural of dáktylos; dactyl )
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Word History and Origins

Origin of dactyl1

C14: via Latin from Greek daktulos finger, dactyl, comparing the finger's three joints to the three syllables
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Example Sentences

They aren’t exactly Homeric dactyls, but they seem intended to mirror that ancient literary form, and they give “Everyday Life” an easily digestible if slightly pretentious rhythm.

She glanced back, saw Two Step on top of another dactyl, screaming for dear life.

Without the translation, the vuvv’s ode, its scratchy iambs and dactyls, sound like someone walking forcefully in corduroys.

A single stressed syllable, then a trochee, then a dactyl, for prosody nerds.

The double dactyl is a form invented by writers Anthony Hecht and Paul Pascal on a whim over lunch in Rome in 1951.

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