(dactylus), a foot in the Latin and Greek poetry, consisting of a long syllable, followed by two short ones; as *carmina*.

Some say it is derived from δάκτυλος, "a finger," because it is divided into three joints, the first of which is longer than the other two.

The dactyl is said to have been the invention of Dionysius or Bacchus, who delivered oracles in this measure at Delphos, before Apollo. The Greeks call it ξενίαξις. The dactyl and spondee are the most considerable of the poetical feet; as being the measures used in heroic verse by Homer, Virgil, &c. These two are of equal time, but not equal motion. The spondee has an even, strong, and steady pace, like a trot: the dactyl resembles the nimbler strokes of a gallop.