Dac″tyl (dăk″tĭl), n. [L. dactylus, Gr. δάκτυλοσ a finger, a dactyl. Cf. Digit.] 1. (Pros.) A poetical foot of three sylables (— ⏑ ⏑), one long followed by two short, or one accented followed by two unaccented; as, L. tëgmĭnĕ, E. mer″ciful; — so called from the similarity of its arrangement to that of the joints of a finger. [Written also dactyle.]
2. (Zoöl.) (a) A finger or toe; a digit. (b) The claw or terminal joint of a leg of an insect or crustacean.