Dactyl

Dactyl (Gr. dactylos, 'finger'), the name of a measure or 'foot' in Greek and Latin versifica- tion, consisting of a long and two short syllables, as in the word omnibūs. It was so called from its resemblance to the finger, which consists of three joints—one long and two short. The same name is sometimes applied to a trisyllabic measure in English verse, consisting of one accented syllable and two unaccented syllables, as in destiny (see VERSE). Dactylic verse consists of dactyls and spondees, and includes both hexameter and pentameter verse.