dactyl Meaning, Definition & Usage

  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
    digit.

WordNet

Dac"tyl noun
Etymology
L. dactylus, Gr. a finger, a dactyl. Cf. Digit.
Definitions
  1. (Pros.) A poetical foot of three sylables (— ~ ~), one long followed by two short, or one accented followed by two unaccented; as, L. tëgm&icr;n&ecr;, E. mer"ciful; -- so called from the similarity of its arrangement to that of the joints of a finger. Written also dactyle.
  2. (Zoöl.) (a) A finger or toe; a digit. (b) The claw or terminal joint of a leg of an insect or crustacean.

Webster 1913