polydactyly
pol·y·dac·tyl·y/ˌpɑl.iˈdæk.təl.i/noun
polydactyly is spelled P-O-L-Y-D-A-C-T-Y-L-Y, 5 syllables: pol·y·dac·tyl·y. The wrong spelling people search most is polydactily: about 10 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 156 of all searches for the word. Polydactyly is a noun meaning “A congenital condition in which a person or animal has more than the usual number of digits (fingers or toes)…”. The plural of polydactyly is polydactylies.
How many letters and syllables are in polydactyly?
| Letters | 11: P-O-L-Y-D-A-C-T-Y-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 5: pol·y·dac·tyl·y |
| In writing | about once in every 28 million words; the 159,707th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, polydactily, about 10 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell polydactyly?
Polydactyly is spelled P-O-L-Y-D-A-C-T-Y-L-Y. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 157 of the searches for polydactyly in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is polydactyly?
Polydactyly appears about once in every 28 million words in written English, the 159,707th 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 polydactyly?
- UK /ˌpɒl.ɪˈdak.tɪl.i/
- US /ˌpɑl.iˈdæk.təl.i/
Polydactyly has 5 syllables, split pol·y·dac·tyl·y in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-polydactyly.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of polydactyly
- polydactylies plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does polydactyly mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A congenital condition in which a person or animal has more than the usual number of digits (fingers or toes) on at least one of the hands or feet.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Polydactyly in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense condition of having more than the usual number of digits:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | polydactylisme, polydactylie |
| German | Polydaktylie |
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 polydactyly come from?
From Ancient Greek πολυδάκτυλος (poludáktulos) + -y, from πολυ- (polu-, “many”) + δάκτυλος (dáktulos, “digits”), equivalent to poly- + dactyly or polydactyl + -y.^((Etymology 3))
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).