n. [ L. dactylus, Gr. da`ktylos 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. tëgm&ibreve_;n&ebreve_;, E. mer&bprime_;ciful; -- so called from the similarity of its arrangement to that of the joints of a finger. [ Written also dactyle. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) (a) A finger or toe; a digit. (b) The claw or terminal joint of a leg of an insect or crustacean. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Pertaining to dactyl; dactylic. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) Of or pertaining to a finger or toe, or to the claw of an insect crustacean. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Dactyl + -et. ] A dactyl. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A line consisting chiefly or wholly of dactyls; as, these lines are dactylics. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. pl. Dactylic meters. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. dactylicus, Gr. daktyliko`s, fr. da`ktylos. ] Pertaining to, consisting chiefly or wholly of, dactyls; as, dactylic verses. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. daktyliogly`fos an engraver of gems; dakty`lios finger ring (fr. da`ktylos finger) + gly`fein to engrave. ] (Fine Arts) (a) An engraver of gems for rings and other ornaments. (b) The inscription of the engraver's name on a finger ring or gem. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The art or process of gem engraving. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. dakty`lios finger ring + -graphy. ] (Fine Arts) (a) The art of writing or engraving upon gems. (b) In general, the literature or history of the art. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. dakty`lios finger ring + -logy. ] (Fine Arts) (a) That branch of archæology which has to do with gem engraving. (b) That branch of archæology which has to do with finger rings. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. dakty`lios + -mancy. ] Divination by means of finger rings. [ 1913 Webster ]