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”, in 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”, in 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)
• French: polydactylisme (fr) m, polydactylie (fr) f
• German: Polydaktylie (de) f
• Swedish: polydaktyli (sv) c
• Tagalog: pagkakaingkit

See also

• multidigitate
• polydigital