What is the longest enlish word?

Answer 1

Claimed longest English word:

The longest word in English is claimed to be a scientific term of 189,819 letters; it describes a protein, or a family of proteins, and doesn't appear in standard dictionaries. Researchers who need to speak of it call it 'titin'for short, which just leaves 189,814 letters to go when they write their reports.

English dictionary entries claiming the title of longest English word: The longest word in a standard English dictionary is the 45-letter 'pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis'. This word was concocted in 1935 by a fan of word games and puzzles, using the lung disease, silicosis, as its base.

How it is pronounced:

noo-mo-nohl-truh-mahy-kro-skop-ik-sil-i-koh-vol-key-neh-kah-nee-oh-sis.

It is an obscure term referring to a lung disease caused by inhalation of silica dust.

However, it is actually 4 words.

The longest non-technical word in an English dictionary, (and the longest in common usage) is the 34-letter 'supercalifragilisticexpialadocious'. It was created by lyricists Richard and Robert Sherman as part of a song written for the 1964 Disney musical movie, 'Mary Poppins', and is 'something to say when you've nothing to say'. Mary Poppins herself suggests: 'Just summon up this word and then you've got a lot to say'. This is how it is occasionally used, although it more frequently describes something really good: 'beyond super', or it's just cited as an example of a very long word.

Of the main contenders for the title of the longest non-technical English dictionary entry, the adjective supercalifragilisticexpialadocious, unlike the other two famous long words, has the distinction of remaining in popular usage, very probably because it is easily pronounceable.

The second-longest non-technical word in an English dictionary is the 29-letter 'floccinaucinihilipilification', a composite of four Latin words, first recorded in 1791 and taken from a rule in the students' and scholars' guide, Eton Latin Grammar, first published in the 1500s.

Coined as a witticism (possibly by Eton students) and frequently cited as the longest word in English, it is still occasionally used in its literal, humorous meaning: estimating something as worthless or trivial, of small value, or given away free. For example: Jo: 'I love opera,'; Kim: 'Opera's all rubbish!'; Jo: 'You're floccinaucinihilipilifatingagain, aren't you? To say this word, just break it up into its smaller parts: flocci-nauci-nihili-pili-fication.

The third-longest non-technical and the longest non-coined, that is, evolved word in an English dictionary is the 28-letter 'antidisestablishmentarianism', a term describing a political movement opposed to, or anti-, the movement advocating the removal of the Church of England as the UK state church, the English disestablishmentarian movement of the 1800s (which failed).

The status of all four of these claimed longest English dictionary entries is, of course, subject to debate.

Other claimants to the longest English word title: The longest non-scientific word - not a dictionary entry - in the English language is claimed to be the 85-letter Maori name of a hill in New Zealand.

Next comes the 51-letter name of a village on a Welsh island, though, like the long lung disease and the earlier Latin compilation, this word was put together simply in order to be a very long word; specifically, to bestow upon the local railway station the honour of having the longest name in the British Railways guide. It worked, and people have been visiting the place for over a hundred and fifty years, just to see the signs.

Other languages, and links:

There are place names longer than the NZ hill (Bangkok's ceremonial title holds a world record as the longest place name anywhere). Other words, in many languages, are candidates for the longest word in the world. Most countries have their own claimant to the title of the longest word.

Have a look at the links below: more information on the alleged lung disease, P-45, is there, and the 'longest words' links have details of the New Zealand and Welsh names mentioned above, as well as of other ferociously long words from around the world.

Longest word in the English language has a substantial debate on the issue; while Antidisestablishmentarianism features, it suggests that there are a myriad of others; most of which are contrivances designed merely to be long, some of which are place names that are ostentatiously in different languages, and a number of highly technical terms.

However, floccinaucinihilipilification [29 letters: the act of making something worthless, as opposed to the previous word which had 28] was in use 200 years ago, and also used more recently in senate and nuclear test ban debates - arguably because it is so amusing.

Wikipedia also suggests that additional prefixes and suffixes could be added to one word to make contraneoantidisestablishmentarianalistically, although that could be lengthened into antipseudocontraneoantidisestablishmentarianalistically, although that would again be merely a contrivance. There is a technical word that is in excess of 1,000 characters (and has been in print a number of times).

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the longest word in English is,

pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (45 letters).it is a lung disease

Answer 2

The longest word currently listed in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis with 45 letters. "Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis" is widely acknowledged as the longest word in the English Language. It has appeared in a number of major English Language Dictionaries including Webster's Third New International Dictionary and Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Seventh Edition. It first appeared in the Oxford English Dictionary in 1936.

The word was invented by Everett K Smith, President of the National Puzzlers' League at their convention in 1935, from Ancient Greek pneumōn (lung)+Latin ultra (beyond) + English microscopic + silico + volcano + Ancient Greek konis ( dust) + English -osis, meaning A disease of the lungs, caused by inhaling mineral or metallic dust, such as silicon and quartzite. The silicates then lacerate the lining of the lungs, causing the victim to leak air from their lungs while simultaneously bleeding into their lung cavity.

The OED issued the following word of caution regarding such words: "Most of the words which are given as 'the longest word' are merely inventions, and when they occur it is almost always as examples of long words, rather than as genuine examples of use. For example, the medieval Latin word honorificabilitudinitas(honourableness) was listed by some old dictionaries in the English form honorificabilitudinity (22 letters), but it has never really been in use. The longest word currently listed in Oxford dictionaries is rather of this kind: it is the supposed lung-disease pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis(45 letters). "

Other notable words:

• Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious is not an actual word.
• Antidisestablishmentarianism is the longest "non-created" word.
• The absolute LONGEST word in the English language is not in the dictionary. It's the chemical compound name for Titin, the largest known protein, and is 189,819 letters long.
• In ancient Greece, a comedy playwright named Aristophanes made up a word by listing all the ingredients of a food dish together, at 183 letters. Lopadotemakhoselakhogameo-kranioleipsanodrimypotrimmato-silphiokarabomelitokatakekhymenokikh-lepikossyphophattoperisteralektryonopto-kephalliokigklopeleiolagōiosiraio-baphētraganopterýgōn
• There is some question about words being "in" the dictionary without being actual words. Some dictionary words are specifically noted as factitious (false or created words). The longest unchallenged words are pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism (30 letters) and antidisestablishmentarianism (28 letters).
• There are longer place names (such as 'Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrn-drobwllllantysiliogogogoch', a village in Wales), chemical compounds (such as the 189,819 letter name for the protein titin, C1289H2051N343O375S8), and author words such as found only in James Joyce's Finnegans Wake.
• Other words famous for being sesquipedalian: honorificabilitudinitatibus (Which appears in Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost), the Romanization word Lopadotemachoselachogaleokranioleipsa-nodrimhypotrimmatosilphioparaomelitoka-takechymenokichlepikossyphophat (hyphens inserted to display here) which is a fictional dish mentioned in Aristophanes' comedy Assemblywomen. It is a transliteration of the Ancient Greek word λοπαδο τεμαχο σελαχο γαλεο κρανιο λειψανο δριμ υπο τριμματο σιλφιο καραβο μελιτο κατακεχυ μενο κιχλ επι κοσσυφο φαττο περιστερ αλεκτρυον οπτο κεφαλλιο κιγκλο πελειο λαγῳο­σιραιο βαφη τραγανο πτερύγων in the Greek alphabet (1169-74). Liddell and Scott translate this as "name of a dish compounded of all kinds of dainties, fish, flesh, fowl, and sauces." The original Greek spelling had 171 characters (something which is not obvious in the Roman transcription, depending on the variant) and for centuries it was the longest word known.

Answer 3

The longest word in any of the major English language dictionaries is Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, a word that refers to a lung disease contracted from the inhalation of very fine silica particles, specifically from a volcano; medically, it is the same as silicosis.

Answer 4

Antidiesestablishmentarianism Meaning: Opposition to the separation of the state from the Church of England

Answer 5

the longest word in the English language is: pneumonoultrmicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis

Answer 6

floccinaucinihilipilification (29 letters) is a genuine word and found in some larger dictionaries.

Answer 7

1. Antidistablishmentarianizm
2. Pnemoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
3. Honorificabilitudinatatibus
4. Supercalifragilisticexpialidosious

Answer 8

It is 1909 letters.

Answer 9

Supercalifrsgiclisticexplialadocious

Answer 10

supercalifradgilisticexpialidotious