dactylus

[ dak-tuh-luhs ]

/ ˈdæk tə ləs /

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an enlarged portion of the leg after the first joint in some insects, as the pollen-carrying segment in the hind leg of certain bees.

QUIZZES

Set some time apart to test your bracket symbol knowledge, and see if you can keep your parentheses, squares, curlies, and angles all straight!

Question 1 of 7

Let’s start with some etymology: What are the origins of the typographical word “bracket”?

New Latin <Greek; see dactyl

For the same reason the name Pholas Dactylus has been given by Naturalists to the species which we represent, fig. 66.
A Conchological Manual|George Brettingham Sowerby
The common name for Pholas Dactylus in the market, given to it on account of its cylindrical shape.
A Conchological Manual|George Brettingham Sowerby
It has the shape of a date, or of a finger; whence its name of Dactylus, which in Greek signifies a finger.
The Phantom World|Augustin Calmet
There is the Pholas Dactylus, which resembles a small, animated sausage with a pudding head.
Bygones Worth Remembering, Vol. 2 (of 2)|George Jacob Holyoake

Pholas dactylus having hollowed out a shelter in a block of gneiss.
The Ocean World:|Louis Figuier