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🖐️ Having five fingers 🖐️ Animal with five digits
pentadactyl

pentadactyl

8.6
A limb with five fingers or toes
  • noun
  • /ˌpɛntəˈdæktɪl/
  • Specialized
: pentadáctilo
  • A pentadactyl is a fascinating creature.

Examples

  • The pentadactyl limb structure is common in many mammals.

  • The fossil showed a clear pentadactyl structure, indicating five distinct toes.

  • Most mammals, including humans, have a pentadactyl limb pattern.

  • Scientists studied the evolution of the pentadactyl limb in vertebrates.

  • The primate's pentadactyl hand allows it to skillfully grasp branches while climbing.

  • Humans are an example of pentadactyl beings, possessing five fingers on each hand.

  • The fossilized skeleton revealed a pentadactyl limb structure, indicating it had five toes like modern mammals.

Surface Forms

pentadactyl singular
pentadactyls plural

Morphology

pentadactyl = dactyl (semi-transparent) = penta + dactyl

The word is compositionally built from 'penta-' meaning five and 'dactyl' meaning digit, but it is a technical classical formation rather than an everyday transparent word.

Etymology

Pentadactyl comes from the Greek parts penta- ('five') and dactyl ('finger' or 'toe'), the same parts you see in pentagon and pterodactyl. So a pentadactyl is an animal or limb that has five fingers or toes.