Worlds Longest Words
ANTI-TRANSUB-STAN-TIA-TION-ALIST.
And other extremely long words in the English language. How many of these do
you know?
(45) PNEUMONOULTRAMICROSCOPICSILICOVOLCANO CONIOSIS
(also spelled PNEUMONOULTRAMICROSCOPICSILICOVOLCANO .KONIOSIS) = a
lung disease caused by breathing in particles of siliceous volcanic dust.
This is the longest word in any English dictionary. However, it was coined by
Everett Smith, the President of The National Puzzlers' League, in 1935
purely for the purpose of inventing a new "longest word". The
Oxford English Dictionary described the word as factitious.
Nevertheless it also appears in the Webster's, Random House, and Chambers
dictionaries.
(37) HEPATICOCHOLANGIOCHOLECYSTENTEROSTOMIES = a
surgical creation of a connection between the gall bladder and a hepatic duct
and between the intestine and the gall bladder.
This is the longest word in Gould's Medical Dictionary.
(34) SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS = song
title from the Walt Disney movie Mary Poppins.
It is in the Oxford English Dictionary.
(30) HIPPOPOTOMONSTROSESQUIPEDALIAN = pertaining
to a very long word.
From Mrs. Byrne's Dictionary of Unusual, Obscure and Preposterous Words.
(29) FLOCCINAUCINIHILIPILIFICATION = an estimation
of something as worthless.
This is the longest word in the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary.
Interestingly the most common letter in English, E, does not appear in
this word at all, whilst I occurs a total of nine times. The word dates
back to 1741. The 1992 Guinness Book of World Records calls floccinaucinihilipilification
the longest real word in the Oxford English Dictionary, and refers to pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis
as the longest made-up one.
(28) ANTIDISESTABLISHMENTARIANISM = the belief
which opposes removing the tie between church and state.
Probably the most popular of the "longest words" in recent decades.
(27) HONORIFICABILITUDINITATIBUS = honorableness.
The word first appeared in English in 1599, and in 1721 was listed by Bailey's
Dictionary as the longest word in English. It was used by Shakespeare in Love's
Labor's Lost (Costard; Act V, Scene I):
(27) ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHICALLY
The longest unhyphenated word in
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
(10th Ed.), joint with
ethylenediaminetetraacetate (see below).
(27) ANTITRANSUBSTANTIATIONALIST = one who doubts
that consecrated bread and wine actually change into the body and blood of
Christ.
(21) DISPROPORTIONABLENESS and (21) INCOMPREHENSIBILITIES
These are described by the 1992 Guinness Book of World Records as the
longest words in common usage.
(39) TETRAMETHYLDIAMINOBENZHYDRYLPHOSPHINOUS = a
type of acid.
This is the longest chemical term in the Oxford English Dictionary (2nd Ed.).
It does not have its own entry but appears under a citation for another word.
(37) FORMALDEHYDETETRAMETHYLAMIDOFLUORIMUM
Chemical term in the Oxford English Dictionary (2nd Ed.).
(37) DIMETHYLAMIDOPHENYLDIMETHYLPYRAZOLONE
Chemical term in the Oxford English Dictionary (2nd Ed.).
(31) DICHLORODIPHENYLTRICHLOROETHANE = a pesticide
used to kill lice; abbrv. DDT.
It is the longest word in the Macquarie Dictionary and is also in the Oxford
English Dictionary (2nd Ed.).
(29) TRINITROPHENYLMETHYLNITRAMINE = a type of
explosive.
This is the longest chemical term in Webster's Dictionary (3rd Ed.).
(27) ETHYLENEDIAMINETETRAACETATE
The longest unhyphenated word in Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
(10th Ed.), joint with electroencephalographically (see above).
(26) ETHYLENEDIAMINETETRAACETIC = a type of acid;
abbrv. EDTA.
This word appears in Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (10th Ed.).
PLACE NAMES
There are many long place names
around the world. Here are a few of the largest.
(85) TAUMATAWHAKATANGIHANGAKOAUAUOTAMATEATURIPUKAKA PIKIMAUNGAHORONUKUPOKAIWHENUAKITANATAHU
A hill in New Zealand. This Maori name was in general use, but is now generally
abbreviated to Taumata. The name means: the summit of the hill, where
Tamatea, who is known as the land eater, slid down, climbed up and swallowed
mountains, played on his nose flute to his loved one.
(66) GORSAFAWDDACHAIDRAIGODANHEDDOGLEDDOLONPENRHYN
AREURDRAETHCEREDIGION
A town in Wales. The name means: the Mawddach station and its dragon teeth
at the Northern Penrhyn Road on the golden beach of Cardigan bay.
(58) LLANFAIRPWLLGWYNGYLLGOGERYCHWYRNDROBWLLLLANTY
SILIOGOGOGOCH
A town in North Wales. The name roughly translates as: St. Mary's Church in
the hollow of the white hazel near to the rapid whirlpool of Llantysilio of the
red cave. It is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.
(41) CHARGOGAGOGMANCHARGOGAGOGCHARBUNAGUNGAMOG
Another name for Lake Webster in Massachusetts. Probably the longest name in
the United States. Alternative spellings are:
(44) CHARGOGGAGOGGMANCHAUGGAGOGGCHAUBUNAGUNGAMOGG,
(45) CHARGOGGAGOGGMANCHAUGGAGOGGCHAUBUNAGUNGAMAUGG,
(44) CHARGOGGAGOGGMANCHAUGGAGOGGCHABUNAGUNGAMAUGG.
(23) NUNATHLOOGAGAMIUTBINGOI
Whew!!!
