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dactylic

[ dak-til-ik ]

/ dækˈtɪl ɪk /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR dactylic ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

of, containing, or characterized by dactyls: dactylic hexameter; a dactylic line.

of a dactyl.

noun

a dactylic verse.

Origin of dactylic

1580–90; < Latin dactylicus < Greek daktylikós. See dactyl, -ic

OTHER WORDS FROM dactylic

dac·tyl·i·cal·ly, adverb

Words nearby dactylic

dacryosolenitis, dacryostenosis, dacryosyrinx, dactinomycin, dactyl, dactylic, dactylitis, dactylo-, dactylogram, dactylography, dactylology

Example sentences from the Web for dactylic

This proportion is broken in the relation of the primary interval to the unit group in the dactylic rhythm form.

Harvard Psychological Studies, Volume 1 |Various
A great variety of verses is used in the epitaphs, but the dactylic hexameter and the elegiac are the favorites.

The Common People of Ancient Rome |Frank Frost Abbott
This may occur when the accent is on the first syllable of a foot; that is, when the foot is trochaic or dactylic.

English: Composition and Literature |W. F. (William Franklin) Webster
Dactylic verse would have a regular recurrence of an accented syllable followed by two unaccented syllables, etc.

Legends, Tales and Poems |Gustavo Adolfo Becquer

But, in his expressed aversion for trochaic and dactylic measures, is he not merely recording his own inability to handle them?

Figures of Several Centuries |Arthur Symons

British Dictionary definitions for dactylic

dactylic

/ (dækˈtɪlɪk) /

adjective

of, relating to, or having a dactyl dactylic verse

noun

a variant of dactyl (def. 1)

Derived forms of dactylic

dactylically, adverb