Syndactyly
/ˌsɪnˈdæk.tɪ.li/noun
A condition in which two or more fingers or toes are fused together.
Did you know?Syndactyly is built from Greek syn- (“together”) and daktylos (“finger”), the same dactyl root that also gave us the poetic meter name dactyl—proof that ancient Greek kept turning body parts into language magic.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*deḱ-
“to take, accept; in Greek-derived forms, this root helped produce words for a finger as a “pointer” or “taker””
Ancient Greek
Greek
δάκτυλος (dáktylos)
“finger; toe”
Ancient Greek
Greek
σύν (sýn)
“with, together”
Late Latin / Medical Latin
Latin
syndactylia
“a condition of joined fingers or toes”
19th Century
English
syndactyly
“the congenital fusion of two or more digits”