polydactyly

English

A radiogram of the left hand of a person with polydactyly

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌpɒl.ɪˈdak.tɪl.i/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌpɑl.iˈdæk.təl.i/
• Hyphenation: pol‧y‧dac‧tyl‧y

Noun

polydactyly (plural polydactylies)

1. (medicine, teratology) 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 their hands or feet.
   • 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.

   • 2008, “Most Fingers and Toes — Living Person”, in Guinness World Records‎^[1], Human Body — Extreme Bodies:

     Pranamya Menaria (India; born August 10, 2005) has 25 in total (12 fingers and 13 toes). This is as a result of the condition Polydactyly and Syndactyly.

   • 2021, Leah W. Burke, 3: Genetics of Associated Syndromes, Donald R. Laub Jr. (editor), Congenital Anomalies of the Upper Extremity, Springer, page 42,

     The rare polydactylies, that is, not clearly only postaxial or only preaxial, are the most likely to be associated with an underlying syndrome.

   • 2023, Christianne van Nieuwenhoven, Steven Hovius, 9: Thumb Polydactyly, Giorgio Pajardi (editor), Pediatric Hand Surgery, Springer, page 102,

     Polydactyly with a triphalangeal thumb will be described in the chapter on the triphalangeal thumb. […] The incidence of polydactyly depends on the population studied and the definition used. Region, ethnicity and combined numbers of all polydactylies, or only radial or ulnar-sided polydactyly, provide very different incidences in published series.

Synonyms

• hyperdactyly
• polydactylism

Hyponyms

• hexadactyly

Derived terms

• postaxial polydactyly
• preaxial polydactyly
• synpolydactyly

Related terms

• cephalopolysyndactyly
• ectrodactyly
• polydactyl
• polydactylous
• polysyndactyly
• syndactyly

 

Translations

condition of having more than the usual number of digits

• Arabic: كَثْرَة اَلْأَصَابِع f (kaṯra(t) al-ʔaṣābiʕ)
• Czech: polydaktylie f
• Finnish: polydaktylia (fi)
• German: Polydaktylie (de) f
• Swedish: polydaktyli (sv) c