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.
a finger or toe.
Also called: dactylic. prosody a metrical foot of three syllables, one long followed by two short ( ) Compare bacchius
zoology any digit of a vertebrate
What does -dactyl mean? The combining form -dactyl is used like a suffix with two related meanings. Depending on the context, it can mean "fingered, possessing fingers" or "toed, possessing toes." Essentially, -dactyl means "having digits." It is occasionally used in scientific terms, especially in anatomy and zoology. The form -dactyl comes from Greek dáktylos, meaning “finger” or “toe.” In poetry, the metrical foot known as a dactyl also derives from this same Greek root. Learn more at our entry for dactyl. What are variants of -dactyl?The form -dactyl is a variant of -dactylous, as in tetradactylous. While not a variant of -dactyl, -dactyly is also related to this form. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use article for these combining forms.
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin dactylus < Greek dáktylos finger, a dactyl, referring to the three joints of the finger
< Greek Dáktyloi ( Idaîoi ) (Idaean) craftsmen or wizards (plural of dáktylos; see dactyl)
A dactyl is a unit of poetry consisting of three syllables, the first of which is stressed. The word "poetry" is itself a great example of a dactyl! When a poem is made up of three-syllable metrical feet, and the emphasis naturally lands on the first syllable of each foot, you call those units dactyls. The Greek root is daktylos, which means "unit of measure" but also "finger." The literary term came from the "finger" meaning — the three bones in a finger represent the three syllables in a dactyl. These lines from Alfred, Lord Tennyson's "Charge of the Light Brigade" are written in dactyls: "Flashed all their sabres bare, / Flashed as they turned in air / Sabring the gunners there."
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Many Loserbards noted that “epithalamium” has that ONE-two-three, TWO-two-three meter — a double dactyl; this week’s Inkin’ Memorial winner is the best of them, in its knitted-highbrow/lowbrow glory.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 16, 2015
There's a lovely contrast between the skippety dactyl of "Merry mites" and the surprising, ceremonious spondee, "Welcome".
From The Guardian ● Mar. 29, 2010
The double dactyl is a form invented by writers Anthony Hecht and Paul Pascal on a whim over lunch in Rome in 1951.
From Washington Post
Another boom sounded and Magdalys swerved the dactyl into a sharp turn and then swooped low.
From "Dactyl Hill Squad" by Daniel José Older
The dactyl squawked twice in what might’ve been a snicker, and took off to join its squad.
From "Dactyl Hill Squad" by Daniel José Older
OpenAI’s Dactyl robotic hand is powered by AI software Because of the training limitation and obvious safety concerns, robots used commercially today do not utilize AI and instead are programmed with very specific instructions.
From The Verge ● Oct. 15, 2019
In 1991, the now-dissolved manufacturing arm of the Virtuality Group introduced a set of games, including the then-revolutionary Dactyl Nightmare, in arcades across the country.
From Slate ● Oct. 27, 2017
Although only 1.5 kilometers in diameter, smaller than many college campuses, Dactyl provides scientists with something otherwise beyond their reach—a measurement of the mass and density of Ida using Kepler’s laws.
From Textbooks ● Oct. 13, 2016
Nearly a decade earlier the Jupiter-bound Galileo spacecraft flew by Gaspra, 18 kilometres in its longest dimension, as well as by Ida, 31 kilometres across, and its moon Dactyl.
From Nature ● Sep. 10, 2014
The Dactyl Hill Squad let a single second of silence past before jumping into action.
From "Dactyl Hill Squad" by Daniel José Older
In their rites, ceremonies, tricks and pretensions they closely resemble the Dactyli, Idæ, and Curetes of the ancient Greeks and Romans, the Magi of the Persians and the Druids of Britain.
From The Feast of the Virgins and Other Poems by Gordon, Hanford Lennox
Or drown the noise of the fond Dactyli By laughter loud?
From Democritus Platonissans by More, Henry
Their names and number were as indistinct even to the ancients as those of the Curetes and Idaean Dactyli.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 4 "Coquelin" to "Costume" by Various
In their rites, ceremonies, tricks and pretensions they closely resemble the Dactyli, Idæ and Curetes of the ancient Greeks and Romans, the Magi of the Persians, and the Druids of Britain.
From Legends of the Northwest by Gordon, Hanford Lennox
The mountains of Germany and Scandinavia are under the governance of a set of metallurgic divinities, who agree with the Cabiri, Hephæsti, Telchines, and Idæan Dactyli.
From Traditions of Lancashire, Volume 1 by Roby, John
In this case they are Prologue, Rounds, Dactyls and Epilogue.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2022
Dactyls scattered to either side as Stella exploded into the air above the silo.
From "Dactyl Hill Squad" by Daniel José Older
Still more difficult is it to make this distinction when we read of the mythical Dactyls of Ida in Crete or the Telchines or Cyclopes being acquainted with the smelting of χαλκός.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 3 "Brescia" to "Bulgaria" by Various
In good troth, the Dactyls are good Dactyls, but their measure is naught.
From The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 5 The Letters of Charles and Mary Lamb, 1796-1820 by Lucas, E. V. (Edward Verrall)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
