DACTYL

[dac.tyl] n [ME dactile, fr. L dactylus, fr. Gk daktylos, lit., finger; fr. the fact that the first of three syllables is the longest, like the joints of the finger] (14c): a metrical foot consisting of one long and two short syllables or of one stressed and two unstressed syllables (as in tenderly) -- dac.tyl.ic adj or n