dactyl
Prosody. a foot of three syllables, one long followed by two short in quantitative meter, or one stressed followed by two unstressed in accentual meter, as in gently and humanly.Symbol:
a finger or toe.
Origin of dactyl
1Words Nearby dactyl
Other definitions for Dactyl (2 of 3)
or Dak·tyl
any of a number of beings dwelling on Mount Ida and working as metalworkers and magicians.
Origin of Dactyl
2Other definitions for -dactyl (3 of 3)
variant of -dactylous, especially with nouns: pterodactyl.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use dactyl in a sentence
The control algorithm, dactyl, needed some 100 years’ worth of experience in a simulation powered by 6,144 CPUs and 8 Nvidia V100 GPUs to accomplish this relatively simple task.
This Robot Dog Has an AI Brain and Taught Itself to Walk in Just an Hour | Jason Dorrier | August 8, 2022 | Singularity HubA dactyl is a three-syllable foot accented on the first syllable.
English: Composition and Literature | W. F. (William Franklin) WebsterIt will be noted that the dactyl is very closely related in expression to the trochee, and the anapest to the iambic.
Browning and the Dramatic Monologue | S. S. CurryThe proceleusmatic foot, or four short syllables, instead of the dactyl; scen.
This foot, consisting of one accented syllable, followed by two unaccented syllables, is called a dactyl.
Elementary Guide to Literary Criticism | F. V. N. Painter
The dactyl, a foot of three syllables, the first long and the two last short, is used principally in the first place in the line.
Dissertation on the English Language | Noah Webster, Jr.
British Dictionary definitions for dactyl
/ (ˈdæktɪl) /
Also called: dactylic prosody a metrical foot of three syllables, one long followed by two short (– ◡ ◡): Compare bacchius
zoology any digit of a vertebrate
Origin of dactyl
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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