Lexic.us

Definition of Dactyl

1. Noun. A metrical unit with stressed-unstressed-unstressed syllables.

2. Noun. A finger or toe in human beings or corresponding body part in other vertebrates.

Definition of Dactyl

1. n. A poetical foot of three sylables (— ⌣ ⌣), one long followed by two short, or one accented followed by two unaccented; as, L. tëgm&ibreve;n&ebreve;, E. mer\b6ciful; -- so called from the similarity of its arrangement to that of the joints of a finger.

Definition of Dactyl

1. Noun. A poetical foot of three syllables (— ~ ~), one long followed by two short, or one accented followed by two unaccented. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Dactyl

1. a type of metrical foot [n -S]

Medical Definition of Dactyl

1. 1. A poetical foot of three sylables (y e e), one long followed by two short, or one accented followed by two unaccented; as, L. Tegmine, E. Mer"ciful; so called from the similarity of its arrangement to that of the joints of a finger. Alternative forms: dactyle. 2. A finger or toe; a digit. The claw or terminal joint of a leg of an insect or crustacean. Origin: L. Dactylus, Gr. A finger, a dactyl. Cf. Digit. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Dactyl

dacryocystocele dacryocystogram dacryocystorhinostomy dacryocystotomy dacryohemorrhea dacryohemorrhoea dacryolith dacryolithiasis dacryon dacryops

dacryopyorrhoea dacryorrhoea dacryostenosis dacryphilia dactinomycin dactyl (current term) dactyl- dactylagra dactylalgia dactylar

dactylectomies dactylectomy dactyledema dactylet dactylets dactyli dactyli ology dactylic dactylic rhyme dactylic rhymes

Literary usage of Dactyl

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities by William Smith (1891)
"This may be expressed in figures as follows : If in the trochee the long syllable = 2 and the short syllable = 1, then in the dactyl the long syllable = } ..."

2. The Nature of Harmony and Metre by Moritz Hauptmann (1888)
"If, then, both forms of the dactyl —*-•—+-* and _J J—o— are to exist side by side, we have in the first place to make the distinction, that the latter is ..."

3. Historical and Biographical Essays by John Forster (1858)
"Mr. dactyl and Mr. Puff are another and even lower chapter of the Vamps and Harry Handy s. Puff was a fellow, according to Mr. ..."

4. The Agamemnon of Aeschylus by Aeschylus, John Fletcher Davies (1868)
"(dactyl, trochee, cretic; dactyl, trochee, cretic; dactyl, trochee, dactyl, ... 2. dactyl, trochaic trip. cat. 3. log. (base, dactyl, cretic ..."

5. A System of Greek Prosody and Metre: For the Use of Schools and Colleges by Charles Anthon (1839)
"In the dactylic syzygies the dactyl usually precedes its own spondee, ... Very rarely does an anapaest or a spondee precede a dactyl in the same syzygy, ..."

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