δάκτυλος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Uncertain. Possibly related to Latin digitus. Probably Pre-Greek. Note Boeotian Greek δακκύλιος (dakkúlios). The sense "date" is probably a folk-etymological alteration of a word from a Semitic source such as Arabic دَقَل‎ (daqal, “variety of date palm”) or Hebrew דֶּקֶל‎ (deqel, “date palm”).

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /dák.ty.los/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈdak.ty.los/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈðak.ty.los/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈðak.ty.los/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈðak.ti.los/

Noun

δᾰ́κτῠλος • (dáktulos) m (genitive δᾰκτῠ́λου); second declension

finger
1. toe
measure of length, the breadth of a finger, about 7/10 of an inch
1. dactyl, a metrical foot
2. (in the plural) a dance
date (fruit)
1. type of grape

Declension

Second declension of ὁ δᾰ́κτῠλος; τοῦ δᾰκτῠ́λου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ δᾰ́κτῠλος ho dáktulos	τὼ δᾰκτῠ́λω tṑ daktúlō	οἱ δᾰ́κτῠλοι hoi dáktuloi
Genitive	τοῦ δᾰκτῠ́λου toû daktúlou	τοῖν δᾰκτῠ́λοιν toîn daktúloin	τῶν δᾰκτῠ́λων tôn daktúlōn
Dative	τῷ δᾰκτῠ́λῳ tôi daktúlōi	τοῖν δᾰκτῠ́λοιν toîn daktúloin	τοῖς δᾰκτῠ́λοις toîs daktúlois
Accusative	τὸν δᾰ́κτῠλον tòn dáktulon	τὼ δᾰκτῠ́λω tṑ daktúlō	τοὺς δᾰκτῠ́λους toùs daktúlous
Vocative	δᾰ́κτῠλε dáktule	δᾰκτῠ́λω daktúlō	δᾰ́κτῠλοι dáktuloi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension. Poetic Greek uses δᾰ́κτῠλᾰ (dáktula) as a plural.

Derived terms

βρᾰχῠδᾰ́κτῠλος (brakhudáktulos)

Descendants

English: dactyl, dactylo-
French: dactyle
Russian: да́ктиль (dáktil')