dactyl
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A dactyl is like a finger, having one long part followed by two short stretches.
See also: dactyl-
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Latin dactylus, from Ancient Greek δάκτυλος (dáktulos, “a finger”), three bones of the finger corresponding to three syllables.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈdæktɪɫ/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
Noun
dactyl (plural dactyls)
- A metrical foot of three syllables (— ⏑ ⏑), one long followed by two short, or one accented followed by two unaccented.
- 1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 1: Telemachus]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, , →OCLC, part I , page 4:
- —My name is absurd too: Malachi Mulligan, two dactyls. But it has a Hellenic ring, hasn't it?
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
poetical foot of three syllables
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