dactyl
/ˈdæktɪl/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.78 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A metrical foot of three syllables of the shape | – ⏖ |
noun
A metrical foot of three syllables of the shape | – ⏖ |:
noun
A metrical foot of three syllables of the shape | – ⏖ |:
noun
A metrical foot of three syllables of the shape | – ⏖ |:
Example Sentences
- "Now the Bard, glad to get an audience, […] / stuck fast with his first hexameter, / Not one of all whose gouty feet would stir. // But ere the spavin'd dactyls could be spurr'd / Into recitative, in great dismay / Both cherubim and seraphim were heard / To murmur loudly through their long array; […]"
- "—My name is absurd too: Malachi Mulligan, two dactyls. But it has a Hellenic ring, hasn't it?"
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin dactylus, from Ancient Greek δάκτυλος (dáktulos, “finger”), from the three bones of the finger corresponding to three syllables. Doublet of dactylus, date, and (possibly) digit.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: δάκτυλος
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈdæktɪl/
- British English: /ˈdæktɪl/