dactyl
dact·yl/ˈdæktɪl/noun
dactyl is spelled D-A-C-T-Y-L: 6 letters and 2 syllables (dact·yl). It appears about once in every 17 million words in written English, the 122,704th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, dactyl means “A metrical foot of three syllables of the shape | – ⏖ |” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of dactyl is dactyls.
How many letters and syllables are in dactyl?
| Letters | 6: D-A-C-T-Y-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: dact·yl |
| In writing | about once in every 17 million words; the 122,704th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is dactyl?
Dactyl appears about once in every 17 million words in written English, the 122,704th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce dactyl?
- US /ˈdæktɪl/
Dactyl has 2 syllables, split dact·yl in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-dactyl.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of dactyl
- dactyls plural
- dactyle
- dactile
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does dactyl mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A metrical foot of three syllables of the shape | – ⏖ |
- 2
In qualitative metre, a foot with a stressed first syllable followed by two unstressed syllables.
- 3
In quantitative metre, a foot with a long first syllable followed by two short syllables.
- 4
An excerpt of poetry or verse using this metre.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Dactyl in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense poetical foot of three syllables:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does dactyl come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).