We all know that the Italian language is abundant in rich, complicated and, at times, convoluted words. Among them are also some very long words, the most difficult to memorise, although they are helped by a pleasant and fun melody.
What is the longest Italian word you know? It might be a word such as:
incredibilmente → Questo gioco è incredibilmente difficile.
incredibly → This game is incredibly difficult.
fantasmagorico → Lo spettacolo di ieri è stato fantasmagorico.
phantasmagorical → Yesterday’s show was phantasmagorical.
impressionante → Non ho mai visto qualcosa di così impressionante.
impressive → I’ve never seen something so impressive.
Or perhaps you even know:
Precipitevolissimevolmente which means “very very fast, in hurry”.
This, in reality, is still nothing in comparison with what the Italian dictionary is hiding amongst its pages. Are you ready to read the longest words in the Italian language?
Here we go:
Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliofobia
Nonilfenossipolietilenossietanolo
Pentagonododecaedrico-tetraedrico
Psiconeuroendocrinoimmunologia
To tell the truth, these are very difficult terms even for a native speaker, both in terms of reading and comprehension and they are never used in everyday life. They are also very technical.
To end off, let’s talk about a curiosity of the Italian language that concerns the length of the words. An analysis of the Italian dictionary shows that the average length of a word is 9.7 letters and many are everyday terms.
Here are some examples of words with a length of 9 letters that we use every day:
Zafferano → Il risotto allo zafferano è molto buono.
Saffron → Saffron risotto is very good.
Pacchetto → Quanti pacchetti mi hai spedito?
Package → How many packages did you send me?
Labirinto → Questo giardino sembra un labirinto.
Labyrinth → This garden looks like a labyrinth.
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The longest words in the Italian language!
How long are the words of the Italian language? If you ask an Italian what is the longest word in the dictionary, his answer will almost certainly be precipitevolissimevolmente. The superlative of the adverb “precipitevolmente” consists, indeed, of twenty-six letters. It is a term belonging to a non-scientific terminology that indicates a “rather hasty” way of doing.
The term was introduced by Francesco Moneti, who during the seventeenth century wrote the curiously titled Cortona Convertita.
Although this is an odd case, since it does not respect grammatical conventions, our precipitevolissimevolmente belongs to the family of superlatives. It should, in fact, be noted that the adverbs’ superlatives ending with –mente, in Italian are formed by adding the suffix to the feminine superlative of the adjective, which is precisely -mente. In this case the superlative at the centre of our discussion, should have definitely been written precipitevolissimamente since it stems from the feminine adjective precipitevolissima. Francesco Moneti The linguistic father of this word, Francesco Moneti aimed at creating a term that was an hendecasyllable. In fact, the correct form would not have had the required number of syllables for his intent.
A lot of time has gone by since Moneti introduced this kilometric word and, in fact, today the longest term in the Italian dictionary has instead become a neologism, psiconeuroendocrinoimmunologia, with its thirty letters and thirteen syllables.
Shortened in the acronym PNEI, this expression refers to a discipline that studies the functioning of the nervous, immune and endocrine systems.
Once again, in the field of medical terminology, esofagodermatodigiunoplastica, with its twenty-nine letters is one of the longest words in the Italian language. It concerns a surgery involving the digestive system and that pertains to the field of plastic surgery.
Another curiosity comes from the family of compound words, of which the longest would be a term in geometry, i.e. pentagonododecaedrico-tetrahedral, with its thirty-two letters, while aerotermoviscoelasticità possesses twenty-four! Try to pronounce one after the other!
Schecchereccherebbe, on the other hand, would be the longest word with only one specific vowel with its nineteen letters and a unique set of six vowels “e!” It is easy to guess that it is a term evoking the onomatopoeic chatter of birds.
Who is not familiar with the movie from the sixties, Mary Poppins?
“Supercalifragilistichespiralidoso” is an expression of thirty-four letters that the main character uses during the scene after the horse race. Surrounded by a crowd of journalists, Mary Poppins says that the only expression that can manifest her happiness is precisely supercalifragilistichespiralidoso, which later became the world’s most famous Disney expression, although is actually devoid of real meaning.
Supercalifragilisticexpiralidocious is the original expression from which originates the Italian translation: it is a song written by Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman, sung in the Italian version by Tina Centi, Rita Pavone, and Nancy Cuomo. It is these two brothers who invented the word by combining some known terms in the language of the time: Super stands for “above”, cali for “beauty”, fragilistic for “fragile, delicate”, expiali for “to atone” and docious stands for “educable”. Therefore the overall meaning would be: atoning for educability through delicate beauty.
In that famous film, winner of five Oscars, including one for best song and soundtrack, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious is a kind of a magic formula to be used in the most absurd and difficult situations. The word is actually complete nonsense, an artificial and fantastic construct, but so effective, curious and funny as to remain in the memory of all of us.
scuolaromit2021-05-03T12:15:08+02:00
Italian. The longest word in Italian is traditionally precipitevolissimevolmente, which is a 26-letter-long adverb.
Then, Does Italian have h sound? The humble Italian “h” appears after the consonants “c” and “g” before the vowels “e” and “i” to harden their sounds—very different from English pronunciation. Ci (with multiple meanings, including here, there and us) is pronounced “chee,” while chi (who) sounds like “key.”
What word takes 3 hours to say? That’s called: Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia and it’s one of the longest words in the dictionary.
Moreover, What is the shortest word? Eunoia, at six letters long, is the shortest word in the English language that contains all five main vowels. Seven letter words with this property include adoulie, douleia, eucosia, eulogia, eunomia, eutopia, miaoued, moineau, sequoia, and suoidea. (The scientific name iouea is a genus of Cretaceous fossil sponges.)
What is the oldest word in the world?
Mother, bark and spit are just three of 23 words that researchers believe date back 15,000 years, making them the oldest known words.
also, Is G silent in Italian? (For example, casa, passare) Z and ZZ- When used singular, it can be silent, as in Dizionario, but when doubled in Pizza it can sound more like a T. G- If G appears before the letters A, O, or U, it has a hard sound like Grande, but if it precedes E or I, like in Gelato, it has a soft and gentle sound.
How is LL pronounced in Italian? (-ll-; rr-; -mm-; -nn-; -ff-; -vv-; -ss-)
Italian | Phonetic symbol | English translation |
---|---|---|
bello | ll | beautiful |
birra | rr | beer |
mamma | mm | mum |
anno | nn | year |
How do you say Z in Italian?
Is Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious the longest word?
On the other hand, English speakers around the world are familiar with supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (34 letters). When it was first popularized in the 1964 film “Mary Poppins,” it was fun but meaningless and so it is still often left off lists of longest words.
What word has all 26 letters of the alphabet in it? An English pangram is a sentence that contains all 26 letters of the English alphabet. The most well known English pangram is probably “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog”.
What’s the hardest word to say in the world?
The Most Difficult English Word To Pronounce
- Colonel.
- Penguin.
- Sixth.
- Isthmus.
- Anemone.
- Squirrel.
- Choir.
- Worcestershire.
Is Aeiou a word? AEIOU may refer to: a, e, i, o, u, a traditional list of vowel letters in the Roman alphabet. A.E.I.O.U. , a device used by the Habsburgs.
What’s the weirdest word in the world?
Here are the 12 weirdest words in English:
- Aa.
- Vex.
- Bequeath.
- Mixology.
- Flub.
- Bibble.
- Kakorrhaphiophobia.
- Berserk.
Is there a word with all 26 letters?
An English pangram is a sentence that contains all 26 letters of the English alphabet. The most well known English pangram is probably “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog”. My favorite pangram is “Amazingly few discotheques provide jukeboxes.”
What was the 1st English word? There was no first word. At various times in the 5th century, the Angles, Saxons, Jutes and other northern Europeans show up in what is now England. They’re speaking various North Sea Germanic dialects that might or might not have been mutually understandable.
Who invented the word no? In English, the word no dates back to Middle English and means “not in any degree, not at all, not ever.” Though it’s a short word with only two letters, it’s actually formed from two elements, the first being the PIE (proto Indo European) root *ne- meaning “not,” and the second from the PIE root *aiw-, meaning “vital …
More from Foodly tips!
What is the oldest word for God?
The English word god comes from the Old English god, which itself is derived from the Proto-Germanic *ǥuđán. Its cognates in other Germanic languages include guþ, gudis (both Gothic), guð (Old Norse), god (Old Saxon, Old Frisian, and Old Dutch), and got (Old High German).
Is C pronounced as G in Italian? As in the case of the letter “c”, there are also some very basic rules for pronouncing the “g” correctly. But before going into the “g”, let’s brush up on the general guidelines for the “c”. When the Italian “c” is followed by “i” or “e”, it is pronounced with a soft “ch” sound, like in “ciao”.
How is GL pronounced in Italian?
Similarly, Italian gl makes a sound sort of like the sounds in the middle of the word « million », but not quite the same. To come closer to the correct Italian sound, the tip of the tongue should touch the back of the bottom teeth.
Is the letter J used in Italian? In modern standard Italian spelling, the letter ⟨j⟩ is used only in Latin words, proper nouns (such as Jesi, Letojanni, Juventus etc.) and words borrowed from foreign languages.
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Table of Contents
- What is the longest unofficial word?
- What is the longest word in dictionary?
- What word is 189 819 letters long?
- What word takes 3 hours to say full word?
- What are the 5 longest words?
- What is the stupidest phobia?
- What is the rarest phobia?
- What is Megalohydrothalassophobia?
- Is Trypophobia real?
- Is R silent in carrot?
- Is R silent in party?
- Is R silent in tired?
precipitevolissimevolmente
What is the longest unofficial word?
Floccinaucinihilipilification
What is the longest word in dictionary?
pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
What word is 189 819 letters long?
Titin
What word takes 3 hours to say full word?
METHIONYLTHREONYLTHREONYGLUTAMINYLARGINYL … All told, the full chemical name for the human protein titin is 189,819 letters, and takes about three-and-a-half hours to pronounce.
What are the 5 longest words?
10 Longest Words in the English Language
- Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (45 letters)
- Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (34 letters)
- Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism (30 letters)
- Floccinaucinihilipilification (29 letters)
- Antidisestablishmentarianism (28 letters)
- Honorificabilitudinitatibus (27 letters)
What is the stupidest phobia?
The Top 5 Stupidest Phobias Ever
- 5). Fear of short words.
- 4). Fear of midgets.
- 3). Fear of defecation.
- 2). Fear of kittens wearing thongs.
- 1). Fear of not being afraid.
What is the rarest phobia?
Allodoxaphobia
What is Megalohydrothalassophobia?
Parallel Phobias and Treatment And this one, in particular, is a relatively common phobia. Bathophobia (fear of depths), cymophobia (fear of waves), megalohydrothalassophobia (fear of large underwater sea creatures and objects), and aquaphobia (fear of water) may also evolve into thalassophobic reactions.
Is Trypophobia real?
Trypophobia isn’t an officially recognized phobia. Some researchers have found evidence that it exists in some form and has real symptoms that can impact a person’s everyday life if they’re exposed to triggers. Speak with your doctor or a counselor if you think you may have trypophobia.
Is R silent in carrot?
The R in carrot is clearly pronounced because of the second syllable. R’s that are end the end of the word can fade away as well, or take an “uh” sound.
Is R silent in party?
Party. If you’ve already seen my video on T pronunciations, then you know when the letter T or double T comes between two vowel sounds, that it is often pronounced in everyday speech by native speakers as a D sound. Here it is the R consonant sound, but it’s just like the ur vowel sound, rr, rr.
Is R silent in tired?
Tired is a one-syllable word that feels like a two-syllable word. That’s because of the schwa-R sound.
Hi all.
I was just wondering what is the longest word in italian?
Thanks beforehand!
3 Answers
3 from verified tutors
7 years ago
There are some medical and chimical words that are even longer. But one of the longest non technical words in Italian is «precipitevolissimevolmente».Today it is not really used in speaking, but everybody knows it.
5 years ago
I confirm Marzia.
Precipitevolissimevolmente.
Famous word 😊
For fun,
Supercalifragilisticheispiralidoso (from movie, no meaning)
about a month ago
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