Polydactyly

//ˌpɒl.ɪˈdak.tɪl.i// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A congenital condition in which a person or animal has more than the usual number of digits (fingers or toes) on at least one of the hands or feet. countable, uncountable

    "2003, Karl-Heinz Grzeschik, 66: Greig Cephalopolysyndactyly Syndrome, Mary Ann McLaughlin (supervising editor), NORD Guide to Rare Disorders, National Organization for Rare Disorders, Wolters Kluwer (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins), page 201, Postaxial polydactyly is common in the hands and preaxial polydactyly in the feet."

  2. 2
    birth defect characterized by the presence of more than the normal number of fingers or toes wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
hyperdactylypolydactylism

Example

More examples

"2003, Karl-Heinz Grzeschik, 66: Greig Cephalopolysyndactyly Syndrome, Mary Ann McLaughlin (supervising editor), NORD Guide to Rare Disorders, National Organization for Rare Disorders, Wolters Kluwer (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins), page 201, Postaxial polydactyly is common in the hands and preaxial polydactyly in the feet."

Etymology

From Ancient Greek πολυδάκτυλος (poludáktulos) + -y, from πολυ- (polu-, “many”) + δάκτυλος (dáktulos, “digits”), equivalent to poly- + dactyly or polydactyl + -y.^((Etymology 3))

Related phrases

postaxial polydactylypreaxial polydactylyshort rib-polydactyly syndrome

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.