daedal

English

Alternative forms

• dædal

Etymology

From Latin daedalus, from Ancient Greek δαίδαλος (“skillful”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈdiːdəl/

Adjective

daedal (comparative more daedal, superlative most daedal)

1. Skilful, ingenious, cunning.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.i:

     His daedale hand would faile, and greatly faint, / And her perfections with his error taint [...].

   • 1950, Mervyn Peake, Titus Groan:

     Barquentine went into a form of a trance, the well-heads of his eyes appearing to cloud over and become opaque like miniature sargassos, of dull chalky-blue – the cataract veil – for it seemed that he was trying to remember the daedal days of his adolescence.

Anagrams

• la de da, la-de-da