Meaning & use
dactyl
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Meanings
nouncountabletechnical
A unit of rhythm in poetry made of one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables.
Grammar: Countable: you can talk about one dactyl or several dactyls in a line of verse.
Patterns
- a dactyl in a line of poetry
- a line of dactyls
- dactylic meter
The word 'poetry' is itself a dactyl, with stress on the first syllable.
Homer's epic poems were written in dactylic hexameter, a meter built from dactyls.
The poet ended each line with a dactyl to give it a rolling, falling rhythm.
nouncountabletechnicalbiology
A finger or toe in humans and many animals, especially one of the digits of the hand or foot.
Grammar: Countable and rather formal; everyday English usually says 'finger' or 'toe' instead.
Patterns
- a dactyl on the hand
- the dactyls of a bird's foot
In zoology, the term dactyl refers to a digit, such as a finger or a toe.
Birds have modified dactyls that help them grip branches.
Word forms
| plural | dactyls |
|---|
Common combinations
- dactylic hexameter
- The Odyssey is composed in dactylic hexameter.
- a dactyl foot
- Each dactyl foot has one long and two short syllables.
- dactyl in a line
- Count the dactyls in a line to find its meter.
- dactyl and spondee
- Greek meter mixes dactyls and spondees.
Synonyms and how they differ
- foot
- 'Foot' is the general term for any metrical unit; a dactyl is one specific type of foot.
- digit
- 'Digit' is the everyday scientific word for a finger or toe; 'dactyl' is the rarer technical synonym.
Opposites
Word family
- dactylic adjective
- Relating to a dactyl; used of meter made of dactyls.
Commonly confused: dactyl or pterodactyl?
dactyl vs pterodactyl
A pterodactyl is a prehistoric flying reptile, not a metrical foot; the shared ending comes from the Greek word for 'finger', because of the animal's wing structure.
Practice
Which line of poetry is written in dactyls?
Choose one answer.
'Half a league' has one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed ones, the dactylic pattern. The first option is anapestic, and the last two are iambic.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “dactyl”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.