pentadactyl

[pen-tuh-dak-tl, -til]

adjective

1. having five digits on each hand or foot.

2. having five fingerlike projections or parts.

pentadactyl

/ ˌpɛntəˈdæktɪl /

adjective

1. (of the limbs of amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals) consisting of an upper arm or thigh, a forearm or shank, and a hand or foot bearing five digits

Other Word Forms

• pentadactylism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of pentadactyl¹

1655–65; < Latin pentadactylus < Greek pentadáktylos. See penta-, -dactyl

Example Sentences

Henry Threadgill’s “2.6 Pentadactyl,” commissioned by the Kennedy Center and University of Chicago and written for Imani, had its Washington premiere.

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Laced with opportunities for individual improvisation, “2.6 Pentadactyl” veered between unanimity of movement and a circling constellation of sound and color, creating an aural feast.

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And structures such as the pentadactyl limb still follow an ancient body plan that ensures that no living vertebrate has more than five digits.

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Our arms and legs are pentadactyl limbs - they have five digits.

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A fundamental constraint prevents limbless subterranean animals from remaining viable above a body size of a metre or so, and Graboidus and other large amphisbaenians have seemingly re-evolved giant, pentadactyl clawed forelimbs for use in locomotion and prey dismemberment. is parthenogenetic and viviparous.

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