Dactylics

dac;tyl pronunciation: function: noun etymology: middle english dactile, from latin dactylus, from greek daktylos, literally, finger; from the fact that the first of three syllables is the longest, like the joints of the fingerdate: 14th century : 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 adjective or noun