The longest word in any given language depends on the word formation rules of each specific language, and on the types of words allowed for consideration.
Agglutinative languages allow for the creation of long words via compounding. Words consisting of hundreds, or even thousands of characters have been coined. Even non-agglutinative languages may allow word formation of theoretically limitless length in certain contexts. An example common to many languages is the term for a very remote ancestor, «great-great-…..-grandfather», where the prefix «great-» may be repeated any number of times. The examples of «longest words» within the «Agglutinative languages» section may be nowhere near close to the longest possible word in said language, but is instead a popular example of a text-heavy word.
Systematic names of chemical compounds can run to hundreds of thousands of characters in length. The rules of creation of such names are commonly defined by international bodies, therefore they formally belong to many languages. The longest recognized systematic name is for the protein titin, at 189,819 letters.[1] While lexicographers regard generic names of chemical compounds as verbal formulae rather than words,[2] for its sheer length the systematic name for titin is often included in longest-word lists.
Longest word candidates may be judged by their acceptance in major dictionaries such as the Oxford English Dictionary or in record-keeping publications like Guinness World Records, and by the frequency of their use in ordinary language.
Agglutinative languages[edit]
Basque[edit]
The longest Basque toponym is Azpilicuetagaraicosaroyarenberecolarrea (40) which means «The lower field of the sheepfold (located in) the hight of Azpilicueta».[3]
Esperanto[edit]
Since Esperanto allows word compounding, there are no limits on how long a word can theoretically become. An example is the 39-letter oranĝ-kanton-pafil-limig-aktivul-malamanto, meaning «Orange County gun control activist hater». Such clusters are not considered good style (the 8-word alternative oranĝkantona malamanto de aktivuloj por limigo de pafiloj is more standard), but they are permissible under the rules of Esperanto grammar.[4] Hyphens are optional in Esperanto compounds,[5] so oranĝkantonpafillimigaktivulmalamanto is also technically a valid spelling.
The longest Esperanto roots officially recognized by the Akademio de Esperanto are 13 letters long, shown here with the added substantive «-o» ending:
- administracio (administration),
- aŭtobiografio (autobiography),
- diskriminacio (discrimination),
- konservatorio (conservatory),
- paleontologio (palaeontology),
- paralelogramo (parallelogram), and
- trigonometrio (trigonometry).[6]
The longest word found in the dictionary Plena Ilustrita Vortaro as of its 2020 edition is the 24-letter proper noun Meklenburgio-Antaŭpomerio (the German state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern), followed by the 21-letter word proviantadministracio (rations administration).
As of March 2022 the longest word found in the Tekstaro de Esperanto text corpus is the 66-letter word unue-volapukista-poste-esperantista-poste-idista-poste-denove-esperantista, meaning «first-volapukist-then-esperantist-then-idist-then-again-esperantist», which was used in a review published in Monato in 1997 to describe František Lorenz.[7] However, this word does not follow normal Esperanto word formation rules. Other long words found in Tekstaro de Esperanto that do follow regular word formation include:
- sescent-kvindek-mil-kvadratkilometra (consisting of 650 000 square kilometers), 33 letters, used in an Esperanto version of an 2011 article by Marc Lavergne in Le Monde diplomatique,
- tragedio-komedio-historio-pastoraloj (tragical-comical-historical-pastorals), 33 letters, used in L. L. Zamenhof’s translation of Hamlet,
- Nord-Atlantik-Traktad-Organizo (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), 27 letters, more commonly translated with two words: Nord-Atlantika Traktat-Organiz(aĵ)o.
Estonian[edit]
- Sünnipäevanädalalõpupeopärastlõunaväsimatus meaning «untiredness of a birthday week graduation party» which is 46 letters.[citation needed]
- 31 lettered word of uusaastaöövastuvõtuhommikuidüll meaning «morning idyll after the new year».[8]
- There is also the 25 letter long word of põllumajandusministeerium which is «Ministry of Agriculture».[citation needed]
- The word kuulilennuteetunneliluuk meaning «the hatch a bullet flies out of when exiting a tunnel» is 24 letters long and a palindrome. It could be one of the longest palindromes.[citation needed]
Finnish[edit]
Examples of long words that have been in everyday use in the Finnish language are kolmivaihekilowattituntimittari which means «three-phase kilowatt hour meter» (31 letters), liikekannallepanotarkastuskierros («mobilization inspection round», 33 letters),[9] peruspalveluliikelaitoskuntayhtymä («a public utility of a municipal federation for provision of basic services», 34 letters),[10] and lentokonesuihkuturbiinimoottoriapumekaanikkoaliupseerioppilas «airplane jet turbine engine auxiliary mechanic non-commissioned officer student» (61 letters), an actual military term, although one which has been deprecated. The longest military term in current use is vastatykistömaalinosoitustutkakalustojärjestelmäinsinöörierikoisupseeri «counter-artillery targeting radar systems engineer specialist officer» with 71 characters, with 2 more if grammatically incorrect extra hyphens added for readability are counted.[citation needed] If conjugated forms are allowed, even longer real words can be made. Allowing derivatives and clitics allows the already lengthy word to grow even longer, although the usability of the word starts to degrade. Because Finnish uses free forming of composite words, new words can even be formed during a conversation. One can add nouns after each other without breaking grammar rules.
If one allows artificial constructs as well as using clitics and conjugated forms, one can create even longer words: such as kumarreksituteskenteleentuvaisehkollaismaisekkuudellisennesk-
enteluttelemattomammuuksissansakaankopahan (102 letters), which was created by Artturi Kannisto.[11]
The longest non-compound (a single stem with prefixes and suffixes) Finnish word recognised by the Guinness Book of Records is epäjärjestelmällistyttämättömyydellänsäkäänköhänkään (see also Agglutination#Extremes), based on the stem järki (reason, sanity), and it means: «I wonder if – even with his/her quality of not having been made unsystematized».
Äteritsiputeritsipuolilautatsijänkä and a defunct bar named after it, Äteritsiputeritsipuolilautatsi-baari, are the longest place names in use.
Hungarian[edit]
Eltöredezettségmentesítőtleníttethetetlenségtelenítőtlenkedhetnétek, with 67 letters is the longest word in the Hungarian language and approximately means «you could defragmentation defragmenting impenetrability defragmentation». It is already morphed, since Hungarian is an agglutinative language.
The Hungarian language has many causes for writing words together, but there are a few rules for avoiding undisciplined length, resulting in unreadability.
Words with less than six syllables can be written in one. Agglutinated words have to be separated by one dash, if they are more than six syllables altogether. If there are more than two words that are already written with a dash and we want to add some more, we have to use a new dash to add it (like C-vitamin-adagolás, meaning «Vitamin C rationing»). If there would be two long words to be written, they are advised to be used separately (possible: békeszerződéstervezet-kidolgozás meaning «peace agreement plan elaboration», but advised rather a békeszerződés tervezetének kidolgozása meaning «the elaboration of the plan of the peace agreement»).
[12]
The longest dictionary form word is the word megszentségtelenített, with 21 characters (although it ultimately derives from the word szent meaning: «saint» or «sacred»), and it means «desecrated» or «profaned».[13]
Korean[edit]
There is some disagreement about what is the longest word in the Korean language, which arises from misunderstanding of the Korean language.
The longest word appearing in the Standard Korean Dictionary published by the National Institute of the Korean Language is 청자 양인각 연당초상감 모란 문은구 대접 (靑瓷陽印刻蓮唐草象嵌牡丹文銀釦대접); Revised Romanization: cheongjayang-in-gakyeondangchosang-gammoranmuneun-gudaejeop, which is a kind of ceramic bowl from the Goryeo dynasty; that word is 17 syllable blocks long, and contains a total of 46 hangul letters.[14][15] However, to call this a word would be incorrect. It simply consists of many words which act as adjectives for the one word 대접.
The word 니코틴아마이드 아데닌 다이뉴클레오타이드 (nikotin-amaideu adenin dainyukeulle-otaideu), a phonetic transcription of «nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide», has a larger number of syllable blocks (19) but a smaller number of letters (41), but does not qualify as a single word due to the spaces.
In proper nouns, many Korean monarchs have overly long posthumous names built from many different Sino-Korean nouns describing their positive characteristics, for example Sunjo of Joseon, whose full posthumous name is the 77-syllable-block 순조 선각 연덕현도 경인순희 체성응명흠광석경계천배극융원돈휴의행소윤희화준렬대중지정 홍훈철 모건시태형창 운홍기고명박후강건수정계통수력 공유범문안무정영경 성효대왕 (sunjoseongag-yeondeoghyeondogyeong-insunhuicheseong-eungmyeongheumgwangseoggyeong-gyecheonbaegeug-yung-wondonhyuuihaengsoyunhuihwa-junlyeoldaejungjijeonghonghuncheolmogeonsitaehy-eongchang-unhong-gigomyeongbaghugang-geonsujeong-gyetongsulyeoggong-yubeommun-anmujeong-yeong-gyeongseonghyodaewang).[citation needed] This is simply writing the phrase in Hanja (Hanzi) 純祖先覺淵德顯道景仁純禧體聖凝命欽光錫慶繼天配極隆元敦休懿行昭倫熙化峻烈大中至正洪勳哲謨乾始泰亨昌運弘基高明博厚剛健粹精啓統垂曆建功裕範文安武靖英敬成孝肅皇帝, being transliterate in Hangul. It is not a single word and does not qualify as a lexical entry.
Mongolian[edit]
A popular example of the longest suffixed word in Mongolian is «Цахилгаанжуулалтыхантайгаа» (tsakhilgaanjuulaltykhantaigaa) which is 26 letters long. Here is a table showing, with translations, which suffixes are added.[citation needed]
Word | Translation |
---|---|
Цахилгаан | electricity (power) |
Цахилгаанжуул | electrify |
Цахилгаанжуулалт | electrification |
Цахилгаанжуулалтын | electrifications |
Цахилгаанжуулалтыхан | electricians |
Цахилгаанжуулалтыхантай | with electricians |
Цахилгаанжуулалтыхантайгаа | do (action) with electricians |
Ojibwe[edit]
The longest word in the Ojibwe language is miinibaashkiminasiganibiitoosijiganibadagwiingweshiganibakwezhigan (66 letters), meaning «blueberry pie». This literally translates to «blueberry cooked to jellied preserve that lies in layers in which the face is covered in bread».[16]
Tagalog[edit]
Tagalog can make long words by adding on affixes, suffixes, and other root words with a connector.
The longest published word in the language is pinakanakakapagngitngitngitngitang-pagsisinungasinungalingan, with 59 letters. This compound word means «to keep making up a lie that causes the most extreme anger while pretending you are not.»[17]
Turkish[edit]
Turkish, as an agglutinative language, carries the potential for words of arbitrary length.
Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebileceklerimizdenmişsinizcesine, at 70 letters, has been cited as the longest Turkish word. It was used in a contrived story designed to use this word.[18][19] The word means «As if you would be from those we can not easily/quickly make a maker of unsuccessful ones» and its usage was illustrated as follows:
Kötü amaçların güdüldüğü bir öğretmen okulundayız. Yetiştirilen öğretmenlere öğrencileri nasıl muvaffakiyetsizleştirecekleri öğretiliyor. Yani öğretmenler birer muvaffakiyetsizleştirici olarak yetiştiriliyorlar. Fakat öğretmenlerden biri muvaffakiyetsizleştirici olmayı, yani muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştirilmeyi reddediyor, bu konuda ileri geri konuşuyor. Bütün öğretmenleri kolayca muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriverebileceğini sanan okul müdürü bu duruma sinirleniyor, ve söz konusu öğretmeni makamına çağırıp ona diyor ki: Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebileceklerimizdenmişsinizcesine laflar ediyormuşsunuz ha?
We are in a teachers’ training school that has evil purposes. The teachers who are being educated in that school are being taught how to make unsuccessful ones from students. So, one by one, teachers are being educated as makers of unsuccessful ones. However, one of those teachers refuses to be maker of unsuccessful ones, in other words, to be made a maker of unsuccessful ones; he talks about and criticizes the school’s stand on the issue. The headmaster who thinks every teacher can be made easily/quickly into a maker of unsuccessful ones gets angry. He invites the teacher to his room and says «You are talking as if you were one of those we can not easily/quickly turn into a maker of unsuccessful ones, huh?»
Other well-known very long Turkish words are:[20]
- Çekoslovakyalılaştıramadıklarımızdanmışsınızcasına means «As if you are one of those people whom we could not turn into a Czechoslovakian».
- Afyonkarahisarlılaştırabildiklerimizdenmişsinizcesine means «As if you are one of the people that we made resemble from Afyonkarahisar». (Afyonkarahisar is a city in Turkey.)
Word formation[edit]
Turkish | English |
---|---|
Muvaffak | Successful |
Muvaffakiyet | Success |
Muvaffakiyetsiz | Unsuccessful (‘without success’) |
Muvaffakiyetsizleş(-mek) | (To) become unsuccessful |
Muvaffakiyetsizleştir(-mek) | (To) make one unsuccessful |
Muvaffakiyetsizleştirici | Maker of unsuccessful ones |
Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileş(-mek) | (To) become a maker of unsuccessful ones |
Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştir(-mek) | (To) make one a maker of unsuccessful ones |
Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriver(-) | (To) easily/quickly make one a maker of unsuccessful ones |
Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriverebil(-mek) | (To) be able to make one easily/quickly a maker of unsuccessful ones |
Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebil(-mek) | To be able to not make one easily/quickly a maker of unsuccessful ones |
Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebilecek | One who is not able to make one easily/quickly a maker of unsuccessful ones |
Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebilecekler | Those who are not able to make one easily/quickly a maker of unsuccessful ones |
Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebileceklerimiz | Those whom we cannot make easily/quickly a maker of unsuccessful ones |
Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebileceklerimizden | From those we can not easily/quickly make a maker of unsuccessful ones |
Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebileceklerimizdenmiş | (Would be) from those we can not easily/quickly make a maker of unsuccessful ones |
Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebileceklerimizdenmişsiniz | You would be from those we can not easily/quickly make a maker of unsuccessful ones |
Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebileceklerimizdenmişsinizcesine | As if you would be from those we can not easily/quickly make a maker of unsuccessful ones |
Non-agglutinative languages[edit]
Afrikaans[edit]
Afrikaans, as it is a daughter language of the Dutch language, is capable of forming compounds of potentially limitless length in the same way as in the Dutch language. According to the Total Book of South African Records, the longest word in the language is[21]
Tweedehandsemotorverkoopsmannevakbondstakingsvergaderingsameroeperstoespraakskrywerspersverklaringuitreikingsmediakonferensieaankondiging (136 letters), which means «issuable media conference’s announcement at a press release regarding the convener’s speech at a secondhand car dealership union’s strike meeting». This word, however, is contrived to be long and does not occur in everyday speech or writing.
Arabic[edit]
Currently, the longest word in Arabic is the 15-letter-long word أَفَإِستَسقَينَاكُمُوها.[22] Which means «Did we ask you to let us drink it?» However, according to some online sources the 16-letter-long word أَفَإِستَسقَينَاكُمُوهما is the longest word in Arabic meaning «Did we ask you to let us drink both of them?». Regardless, official sources supporting such a stance cannot be found.
Bulgarian[edit]
The Bulgarian online etymological dictionary claims that longest word in Bulgarian to be the 39-letter-long непротивоконституционствувателствувайте (neprotivokonstitutsionstvuvatelstvuvayte), introduced in the Constitution of Bulgaria of 1947 (Dimitrov Constitution).[23] The word means «do not perform actions against the constitution» (addressed to more than one person).
Catalan[edit]
The longest word in Catalan is considered to be Anticonstitucionalment, an adverb meaning «[done in a way that is] against the constitution», however, the scientific word Psiconeuroimmunoendocrinologia, related to endocrinology, has been proposed by the University of Barcelona to be the true longest word.[24]
Croatian[edit]
The longest known word in Croatian is prijestolonasljednikovičičinima,[25] meaning «to those who belong to the throne successor’s little wife.» The 31-letter word is the dative case of prijestolonasljednikovičica «the throne successor’s little wife» which is the diminutive of prijestolonasljednikovica «the throne successor’s wife.»
Czech[edit]
Traditionally, the word nejneobhospodařovávatelnější («of the least cultivable», 28 letters) is considered as the longest Czech word, but there are some longer artificial words. Most of them are compound adjectives in dative, instrumental or other grammatical case and derived from the iterative or frequentative verbal form or the ability adjective form (like «-able»).
- Nejnezdevětadevadesáteroroznásobovávatelnějšími (47; Instrumental case of the ones least multipliable by a group of ninety-nine on a regular basis)
- Nejnezdevětadevadesáteroroznásobovávatelnější (Those who are the least multiplable by a group ninety-nine on a regular basis)
- Nejzdevětadevadesáteroroznásobovávatelnější (Those who are the most multiplable by a group ninety-nine on a regular basis)
- Zdevětadevadesáteroroznásobovávatelnější (Those who are more multiplable by a group ninety-nine on a regular basis)
- Zdevětadevadesáteroroznásobovávatelní (Those who are multiplable by a group of ninety-nine on a regular basis)
- Zdevětadevadesáteroroznásobovávat (Alternative of «multiply out by a group of ninety-nine on a regular basis»)
- Zdevětadevadesáteroroznásobovat (Multiply out by a group of ninety-nine on a regular basis — continuous grammatical aspect)
- Zdevětadevadesáteroznásobovat (Multiply by ninety-nine on a regular basis – continuous grammatical aspect)
- Zdevětadevadesáteroznásobit (Multiply by a group of ninety-nine once)
- Zdevětadevadesáteronásobit (Multiply by a group of ninety-nine)
- Devětadevadesátero (A group of ninety-nine)
- Devětadevadesát (Inverse of devadesát devět = ninety-nine)
Danish[edit]
Danish, like many Germanic languages, is capable of compounding words to create ad hoc compounds of potentially limitless length. Nevertheless, the constructed word speciallægepraksisplanlægningsstabiliseringsperiode – which means «a period of stabilising the planning of a specialist doctor’s practice» – was cited in 1993 by the Danish version of the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest word in the Danish language at 51 letters long. It is however not possible (using Google) to find a text, which actually uses this word, except for in the context of discussing the longest Danish word.
Dutch[edit]
Dutch, like many Germanic languages, is capable of forming compounds of potentially limitless length. The 53-letter word Kindercarnavalsoptochtvoorbereidingswerkzaamhedenplan, meaning «preparation activities plan for a children’s carnival procession», was cited by the 1996 Guinness Book of World Records as the longest Dutch word.[26]
The longest word in the authoritative Van Dale Dutch dictionary (2009 edition) in plural form is meervoudigepersoonlijkheidsstoornissen;[27] 38 letters long, meaning «multiple personality disorders». The entry in the dictionary however is in the singular, counting 35 letters.
The free OpenTaal dictionary,[28] which has been certified by the Dutch Language Union (the official Dutch language institute) and is included in many open-source applications, contains the following longest words, which are 40 letters long:
- vervoerdersaansprakelijkheidsverzekering, «carriers’ liability insurance»;
- bestuurdersaansprakelijkheidsverzekering, «drivers’ liability insurance»;
- overeenstemmingsbeoordelingsprocedures, «conformity assessment procedures» (38 letters)
The word often said to be the longest in Dutch – probably because of its funny meaning and alliteration – which has also appeared in print, is Hottentottensoldatententententoonstellingsbouwterrein («construction ground for the Hottentot soldiers’ tents exhibition»); counting 53 letters.
English[edit]
The 45-letter word pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is the longest English word that appears in a major dictionary.[29][30] Originally coined to become a candidate for the longest word in English, the term eventually developed some independent use in medicine.[31] It is referred to as «P45» by researchers.[32]
The 30-letter word pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism refers to an inherited disorder,[33] named for its similarity to pseudohypoparathyroidism in presentation, which is in turn named for its similarity to hypoparathyroidism. This is the longest word that was not contrived with the sole intention of becoming the longest word.[34]
Floccinaucinihilipilification, at 29 letters and meaning the act of estimating something as being worth so little as to be practically valueless, or the habit of doing so, is the longest non-technical, coined word in Oxford Dictionaries of the English language.[29]
Antidisestablishmentarianism, at 28 letters, is the longest non-coined, non-systematic English word in Oxford Dictionaries.[29] It refers to a 19th-century political movement that opposed the disestablishment of the Church of England as the state church of England.
French[edit]
German[edit]
In German, whole numbers (smaller than 1 million) can be expressed as single words, which makes siebenhundertsiebenundsiebzigtausendsiebenhundertsiebenundsiebzig (777,777) a 65 letter word. In combination with -malig or, as an inflected noun, (des …) -maligen, all numbers can be written as one word. A 79 letter word, Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft, was named the longest published word in the German language by the 1972 Guinness Book of World Records, but longer words are possible. The word was the name of a prewar Viennese club for subordinate officials of the headquarters of the electrical division of the company named the Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaft, «Danube steam boat operation company».
The longest word that is not created artificially as a longest-word record seems to be Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz at 63 letters. The word means «law delegating beef label monitoring» but as of 2013, it was removed from the books because European Union regulations have changed and that particular law became obsolete, leading to news reports that Germany «had lost its longest word».[35]
In December 2016 the 51-letter word Bundespräsidentenstichwahlwiederholungsverschiebung («deferral of the second iteration of the federal presidential run-off election») was elected the Austrian Word of the Year 2016.[36] The jury called it a «descriptive word» which «in terms of its content as well as its length, is a symbol and an ironic form of commentary for the political events of this year, characterized by the very long campaign for the presidential election, the challenges of the voting process, and its reiteration.»[36][37]
Greek[edit]
In his comedy Assemblywomen (c. 392 BC), Aristophanes coined the 182-letter word λοπαδοτεμαχοσελαχογαλεοκρανιολειψανοδριμυποτριμματοσιλφιοκαραβομελιτοκατακεχυμενοκιχλεπικοσσυφοφαττοπεριστεραλεκτρυονοπτοκεφαλλιοκιγκλοπελειολαγῳοσιραιοβαφητραγανοπτερύγων (Lopadotemachoselachogaleokranioleipsanodrimhypotrimmatosilphiokarabomelitokatakechymenokichlepikossyphophattoperisteralektryonoptekephalliokigklopeleiolagoiosiraiobaphetraganopterygon), a fictional food dish consisting of a combination of fish and other meat. The word is cited as the longest ancient Greek word ever written.[38]
A modern Greek word of 22 letters is ηλεκτροεγκεφαλογράφημα (ilektroenkefalográfima) (gen. ηλεκτροεγκεφαλογραφήματος (ilektroenkefalografímatos), 25 letters) meaning «electroencephalogram».
Hebrew[edit]
The longest Hebrew word is the 19-letter-long (including vowels) וכשלאנציקלופדיותינו (u’chshelentsiklopediotenu),[39] which means «And when to our encyclopedias…» The Hebrew word אנציקלופדיה (encyclopedia) is of a European origin.
The longest word in Hebrew that doesn’t originate from another language is וכשלהתמרמרויותינו, (u’chshelehitmarmeruyotenu) which crudely means «And when, to our resentments/ grievances»
The 11-letter-long (including vowels) וְהָאֲחַשְׁדַּרְפְּנִים (veha’aḥashdarpením) is the longest word to appear in the Hebrew Bible. — Its meaning is «And the satraps». It also does not originate from Hebrew.[citation needed]
Other very long Hebrew words include:
- וכשבהשתעשעויותיהם (u’chshebehishta’ashuateyhem) meaning: «And when they were having fun» or «And while in their playfulness».
Hindi[edit]
Hindi has a finite list of compound words which are based on established grammatical rules of the language. The word commonly cited as the longest in Hindi is लौहपथगामिनीसूचकदर्शकहरितताम्रलौहपट्टिका (lauhpathagāminīsūchakdarshkaharitatāmralauhpaṭṭikā), which consists of 24 consonants and 10 vowel diacritics, making up a total of 34 characters. The word literally means «a green railway warning signboard made of copper-iron». Its plural would be लौहपथगामिनीसूचकदर्शकहरितताम्रलौहपट्टिकाएँ (lauhpathagāminīsūchakdarshkaharitatāmralauhpaṭṭikāẽ), which has an additional vowel and a diacritic. It is a neologism and not in common use.[40]
A much smaller word borrowed from Sanskrit which is in common use and is also often cited as the longest word is किंकर्तव्यविमूढ़ (kinkartavyavimūṛh). It consists of 8 consonants and 5 vowel diacritics, making up a total of 13 characters. The word literally means «confused about what to do», meaning to be bewildered or flabbergasted.
Icelandic[edit]
Icelandic has the ability to form compounds of arbitrary length by stringing together genitives (eignarfallssamsetning), so no single words of maximal length exist in the language. However, vaðlaheiðarvegavinnuverkfærageymsluskúr and vaðlaheiðarvegavinnuverkfærageymsluskúraútidyralyklakippuhringur are sometimes cited as particularly long words;[41] the latter has 64 letters and means «a keychain ring for the outdoor key of road workers shed in a moor called Vaðlaheiði».
Analysis of a corpus of contemporary Icelandic texts by Uwe Quasthoff, Sabine Fiedler and Erla Hallsteinsdóttir identified Alþjóðaflutningaverkamannasambandsins («of the International Transport Workers’ Federation»; 37 letters) and Norðvestur-Atlantshafsfiskveiðistofnunarinnar («of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries’ Organization»; 45 letters) as the longest unhyphenated and hyphenated words.[42]
The longest word occurring at least twice in the University of Leipzig isl-is_web_2015 corpus is Auðmannastjórnvaldaembættisstjórnmálaverkalýðsverðlausraverðbréfaábyrgðarlausrakvóta-ræningjaaftaníossaspilling (110 letters).[43]
Indonesian[edit]
Indonesian is a part of Austronesian language. According from Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia. The longest word of this language is mempertanggungjawabkan, which is 22 letter meaning «take responsibility» in english and heksakosioiheksekontaheksafobia, 30 letter meaning «hexacosioihexecontahexaphobia» in english.[44]
Irish[edit]
The longest non-compound word in Irish is grianghrafadóireacht, a 20-letter-long word meaning «photography».[45]
Italian[edit]
The longest word in Italian is traditionally precipitevolissimevolmente, which is a 26-letter-long adverb.[46] It is formed by subsequent addition of postfixes to the original root:
- precipitevole: «hasty»;
- precipitevolissimo: «very hasty»;
- precipitevolissimevole: «[of someone/something] that acts very hastily», (not grammatically correct[citation needed]);
- precipitevolissimevolmente: «in a way like someone/something that acts very hastily» (not grammatically correct, but nowadays part of the language).
The word is never used in every-day language, but in jokes. Nevertheless, it is an official part of Italian language; it was coined in 1677 by poet Francesco Moneti:
perché alla terra alfin torna repente / precipitevolissimevolmente
— Francesco Moneti, Cortona Convertita, canto III, LXV
The word technically violates Italian grammar rules, the correct form being precipitevolissimamente, which is three letters and one syllable shorter. The poet coined the new word to have 11 syllables in the second verse.
Other words can be created with a similar (and grammatically correct) mechanism starting from a longer root, winding up with a longer word. Some examples are:
- sovramagnificentissimamente (cited by Dante Alighieri in De vulgari eloquentia), 27 letters, «in a way that is more than magnificent by far» (archaic);[47]
- incontrovertibilissimamente, 27 letters, «in a way that is very difficult to falsify»;
- particolareggiatissimamente, 27 letters, «in an extremely detailed way»;
- anticostituzionalissimamente, 28 letters, «in a way that strongly violates the constitution».
The longest accepted neologism is psiconeuroendocrinoimmunologia (30 letters).[citation needed].
Other long words are:
- nonilfenossipolietilenossietonolo (33 letters — chemical)
- pentagonododecaedrotetraedrico (30 letters — 3D geometric figure)
- esofagodermatodigiunoplastica (29 letters — surgery)
- elettroencefalograficamente (27 letters — medical adverb: electroencephalographically)
- diclorodifeniltricloroetano (27 letters — chemical: DDT)
Láadan[edit]
Láadan is not agglutinating as there is no mechanism to combine arbitrary words into one without intermediating grammatical mechanisms (such as the relativizer § In other languages); however, there are a number of affixes that further elucidate the contextual meaning of a word. These are ignored when determining the longest words in the language. The primary reference for vocabulary is the 3rd edition of the official dictionary and grammar.
- oshetham éelenethilethu, 22 letters not counting the space, or 17 phonemes (since for example ée is a toneme of e, and th is a separate sound from *t or *h separately—the asterisks indicate that neither sound exists in Láadan) — a set phrase for a wreath of grapevine, a common symbol of the language[48]
- shineshidethóo, 14 letters or 10 phonemes — an invited guest[49]
Latin[edit]
The longest attested word in Classical Latin is subductisupercilicarptor, which was coined by the obscure poet Laevius in the 1st century. In Medieval Latin, the longest known word is honorificabilitudinitas, which was first attested in a treatise written by the 8th century Grammarian Peter of Pisa. One can further increase the length of the words by adding the Dative plural case to them, which would result in the words subductisupercilicarptoribus and honorificabilitudinitatibus respectively.[citation needed]
Lithuanian[edit]
The longest Lithuanian word is 40 letters long:
- nebeprisikiškiakopūstlapiaujančiuosiuose — «in those, of masculine gender, who aren’t gathering enough wood sorrel’s leaves by themselves anymore.» — the plural locative case of past iterative active participle of verb kiškiakopūstlapiauti meaning «to pick wood-sorrels’ leaves» (leaves of edible forest plant with sour taste, word by word translation «rabbit cabbage»). The word is attributed to software developer / writer Andrius Stašauskas.[50][unreliable source?][51][unreliable source?]
Māori[edit]
The Māori-language 85-letter place name Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu is the longest place name in English-speaking countries and second longest in the world, according to Wises New Zealand Guide and The New Zealand Herald.[52]
Polish[edit]
Very long Polish words can be created as adjectives from numerals and nouns. For example, Dziewięćsetdziewięćdziesięciodziewięcionarodowościowego, 54 letters, is the genitive singular form of an adjective meaning roughly «of nine-hundred and ninety-nine nationalities». Similar words are rather artificial compounds, constructed within allowed grammar rules, but are seldom used in spoken language, although they are not nonsense words.[citation needed] It is possible to make even longer words in this way, for example:
Dziewięćsetdziewięćdziesiątdziewięćmiliardówdziewięćsetdziewięćdziesiątdziewięćmilionów-dziewięćsetdziewięćdziesiątdziewięćtysięcydziewięćsetdziewięćdziesięciodziewięcioletniego (176 letters, meaning «of 999,999,999,999 years old»).
One of the longest common words is 31-letter dziewięćdziesięciokilkuletniemu – the dative singular form of «ninety-and-some years old one». Another known long word is konstantynopolitańczykowianeczka[citation needed] (32 letters), «a daughter of a man who lives in Constantinople» and pięćdziesięciogroszówka (23 letters), «a 50 groszy coin».[53]
Romanian[edit]
The longest Romanian word is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcaniconioză, with 44 letters,[54] but the longest one admitted by the Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române («Explanatory Dictionary of the Romanian Language», DEX) is electroglotospectrografie, with 25 letters.[55][56]
Russian[edit]
Most likely one of the longest Russian words is a chemical term, тетрагидропиранилциклопентилтетрагидропиридопиридиновая (tetragidropiranilciklopentiltetragidropiridopiridinovaya), which contains 55 letters. It was used in Russian patent RU2285004C2 (granted and published in 2006). This word is an adjective that can describe e.g. a chemical formula. As a noun, it is without the last 4 letters.
Another one is превысокомногорассмотрительствующий (prevysokomnogorassmotritel’stvuyushchiy), which contains 35 letters. It is an adjective in the bureaucratic language of the 19th century «meaning a very polite form of addressing clerks, something like Your Excellency, Your Highness, Your Majesty all together» (Guinness World Records 2003[citation needed]). Its dative singular form, превысокомногорассмотрительствующему (prevysokomnogorassmotritel’stvuyushchemu, with 36 letters) can be an example of excessively official vocabulary of the 19th century.
Numeral compounds can be long as well, such as Тысячевосьмисотвосьмидесятидевятимикрометровый (Tysyachevos’misotvos’midesyatidevyatimikrometrovyy), which is an adjective containing 46 letters, meaning «1889-micrometers long».[57]
Sanskrit[edit]
Sanskrit allows word compounding of arbitrary length. Nouns and verbs can be expressed in a sentence.[citation needed]
The longest sentence ever used in Sanskrit literature is (in Devanagari):
- निरन्तरान्धकारितदिगन्तरकन्दलदमन्दसुधारसबिन्दुसान्द्रतरघनाघनवृन्द-सन्देहकरस्यन्दमानमकरन्दबिन्दुबन्धुरतरमाकन्दतरुकुलतल्पकल्पमृ-दुलसिकताजालजटिलमूलतलमरुवकमिलदलघुलघुलयकलितरमणीय-पानीयशालिकाबालिकाकरारविन्दगलन्तिकागलदेलालवङ्गपाटलघनसा-रकस्तूरिकातिसौरभमेदुरलघुतरमधुरशीतलतरसलिलधारानिराकरिष्णुत-दीयविमलविलोचनमयूखरेखापसारितपिपासायासपथिकलोकान्
In IAST transliteration:
- nirantarāndhakārita-digantara-kandaladamanda-sudhārasa-bindu-sāndratara-ghanāghana-vṛnda-sandehakara-syandamāna-makaranda-bindu-bandhuratara-mākanda-taru-kula-talpa-kalpa-mṛdula-sikatā-jāla-jaṭila-mūla-tala-maruvaka-miladalaghu-laghu-laya-kalita-ramaṇīya-pānīya-śālikā-bālikā-karāra-vinda-galantikā-galadelā-lavaṅga-pāṭala-ghanasāra-kastūrikātisaurabha-medura-laghutara-madhura-śītalatara-saliladhārā-nirākariṣṇu-tadīya-vimala-vilocana-mayūkha-rekhāpasārita-pipāsāyāsa-pathika-lokān
from the Varadāmbikā Pariṇaya Campū by Tirumalāmbā,[58] composed of 195 Sanskrit letters (428 letters in the roman transliteration, dashes excluded), thus making it the longest word ever to appear in worldwide literature.[59][60]
Each hyphen separates every individual word this word is composed of.
The approximate meaning of this word is:
- «In it, the distress, caused by thirst, to travellers, was alleviated by clusters of rays of the bright eyes of the girls; the rays that were shaming the currents of light, sweet and cold water charged with the strong fragrance of cardamom, clove, saffron, camphor and musk and flowing out of the pitchers (held in) the lotus-like hands of maidens (seated in) the beautiful water-sheds, made of the thick roots of vetiver mixed with marjoram, (and built near) the foot, covered with heaps of couch-like soft sand, of the clusters of newly sprouting mango trees, which constantly darkened the intermediate space of the quarters, and which looked all the more charming on account of the trickling drops of the floral juice, which thus caused the delusion of a row of thick rainy clouds, densely filled with abundant nectar.»
Slovak[edit]
Traditionally, the word najneobhospodarovávateľnejšieho («of the least cultivable», 31 letters) is considered as the longest Slovak word, but there are some longer artificial words. Most of them are compound adjectives in dative, instrumental or other grammatical case and derived from the iterative or frequentative verbal form or the ability adjective form (like -able).[61]
[62]
Artificial words, lexically valid but never used in language:
- znajneprekryštalizovávateľnejšievajúcimi, 40 letters, «through the least crystallised ones»
- znajnepreinternacionalizovateľnejšievať, 39 letters
- najnezrevolucionalizovateľnejšiemu, 34 letters [63]
- najnerozkrasokorčuľovateľnejšieho, 33 letters
Artificial words using Slovak towns or places, lexically valid but never used in language:
- znajneprehornádskodružstevnianskovávateľnejšievajúcimi, 54 letters
- znajneprechminianskojakubovianskovávateľnejšievajúcimi, 54 letters
Numerals:
- deväťstodeväťdesiatdeväťtisícštyristodeväťdesiatdeväť, 53 letters, «999499» [64]
- sedemstodeväťdesiatsedemtisícsedemstodeväťdesiatsedem, 53 letters, «797797» [65]
Spanish[edit]
The longest word in Spanish is esternocleidomastoideitis (inflammation of the sternocleidomastoid muscle, 30 letters).[66] Runners-up are anticonstitucionalmente ([proceeding in a manner that is] contrary to the constitution) and electroencefalografistas (specialists that do electrical scans on brains (electroencephalographists)), both 23 letters.
The word anticonstitucionalmente is usually considered the longest word in general use. This word can be made even longer by the addition of the absolute superlative suffix, rendering anticonstitucionalísimamente (i.e.: «very strongly against the constitution»). Some dictionaries (but not the RAE dictionary[67]) removed its root word (anticonstitucional) in 2005, causing comments about it not «being a valid word anymore» and suggesting the use of inconstitucional as a replacement.[citation needed]
Swedish[edit]
Realisationsvinstbeskattning (28 letters) is the longest word in Svenska Akademiens Ordlista. It means «capital gains taxation», and is usually shortened to Reavinstskatt (same meaning).
However, Swedish grammar makes it possible to create arbitrarily long words. One such word is Spårvagnsaktiebolagsskensmutsskjutarefackföreningspersonalbeklädnadsmagasinsförråd-sförvaltarens (94 letters) which means: «[belonging to] The manager of the depot for the supply of uniforms to the personnel of the track cleaners’ union of the tramway company».[68]
Toki Pona[edit]
kijetesantakalu in the Toki Pona writing system sitelen pona
The longest word in Toki Pona is kijetesantakalu (15 letters), which was proposed in 2009 as an April Fools’ joke by the language’s creator Sonja Lang as a word for any animal of the Procyonidae family, which includes raccoons and related species.[69] The word has since entered into common use, and it has become common to define kijetesantakalu more broadly as any animal from the Musteloidea superfamily.[70] In 2019 James Flear designed a glyph for kijetesantakalu in Toki Pona’s sitelen pona writing system, which has become a popular icon within the Toki Pona community.[71]
As a minimalistic isolating constructed language, most words in Toki Pona are much shorter, the median being 4 letters. The longest words featured in the 2014 book Toki Pona: The Language of Good, Lang’s first official Toki Pona publication, are the 7-letter words kepeken («to use, by means of») and sitelen («symbol, picture»). The list of proposed country names in the same book also mentions ma Papuwanijukini («Papua New Guinea»), which includes a 14-letter proper adjective.[72]
Vietnamese[edit]
Vietnamese is an isolating language, which naturally limits the length of a morpheme. The longest, at seven letters, is nghiêng, which means «inclined» or «to lean».[73] This is the longest word that can be written without a space. However, not all words in Vietnamese are single morphemes. Indeed, nghiêng can be reduplicated as nghiêng nghiêng.
The written language abounds with compound words in which each constituent word is delimited by spaces, just like any freestanding word. Moreover, the grammar lacks inflection to mark parts of speech, and prepositions are often optional. Therefore, the boundary between a word and a phrase is poorly defined.[74] Examples of this ambiguity include:
- Chủ nghĩa phân biệt chủng tộc («racism»), which is composed of the words chủ nghĩa («ideology»), phân biệt («discriminate»), and chủng tộc («race»)
- Cơm gà xào sả ớt, which literally describes a dish of grilled chicken sauteed with lemongrass and peppers on rice
- Ông bà anh chị em, a polite pronoun composed of five kinship terms
Unlike locally coined compound words, compound words in Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary are less ambiguous, because of the use of premodifiers (as in English) as opposed to the native postmodifiers. Long Sino-Vietnamese words include bách khoa toàn thư («encyclopedia») and thủy động lực học («hydrodynamics»).
Loanwords and pronunciation respellings from other languages can also result in long words. For example, «consortium» is côngxoocxiom (12 letters), and «Indonesia» may be left as-is or spelled In-đô-nê-xi-a (13 counting hyphens).[75] The Encyclopedic Dictionary of Vietnam systematically respells foreign names, introducing long names into an official Vietnamese lexicon:
- Kômixacjepxkaia («Komissarzhevskaya», 15 letters)[76]
- Rôjơđextơvenxki («Rozhdestvensky», 15 letters)[77]
- Mêtơrôpôliten Ôpêra («Metropolitan Opera», 18 letters)[78]
Long initialisms in Vietnamese include:
- CHXHCNVN (Cộng hòa Xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam, «Socialist Republic of Vietnam», 8 characters)
- MTDTGPMNVN (Mặt trận Dân tộc Giải phóng miền Nam Việt Nam, «Viet Cong», 10 characters)
In modern Vietnamese, compound words can be identified fairly easily within title cased text: a morpheme that begins with a capital letter followed by one or more morphemes that begin with a lowercase letter. For example, xã hội chủ nghĩa («socialism») is capitalized as one component within Cộng hòa Xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam.
Welsh[edit]
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, a railway station on the island of Anglesey in Wales, is the longest place name in the Welsh language. At 51 letters in the Welsh alphabet (the digraphs ll and ch are each collated as single letters) the name can be translated as «St Mary’s church in the hollow of the white hazel near to the rapid whirlpool and the church of St Tysilio of the red cave». However, it was artificially contrived in the 1860s as a publicity stunt, to give the station the longest name of any railway station in the United Kingdom.
Long words are comparatively rare in Welsh. Candidates for long words other than proper nouns include the following (the digraph dd is also treated as a single letter, as is ng in many instances including in the last word below):
- gwrthddatgysylltiadaeth (antidisestablishmentarianism)
- microgyfrifiaduron (microcomputers)
- gwrthgyfansoddiaethwyr (anticonstitutionalists)
- lled-ddargludyddion (semiconductors)
- tra-arglwyddiaethasant (they tyrannised)
- cyfrwngddarostynedigaeth (intercession)[79] (-au can be added to form the plural, and the word can be further lengthened slightly by initial mutation: fy nghyfrwngddarostynedigaethau, «my intercessions»)
See also[edit]
- Morphology (linguistics)
- Longest English sentence
- Coxeter group — mathematical concept whose entities are sometimes called words
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- ^ «Dante: De Vulgari Eloquentia II». Retrieved 22 July 2016.
- ^ «Láadan-to-English». laadanlanguage.org.
- ^ «Láadan to English – Sh». laadanlanguage.org. 25 October 2015.
- ^ «A Collection of Word Oddities and Trivia». jeff560.tripod.com.
- ^ «Loooooooong words». Archived from the original on 9 May 2016. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
- ^ NZPA (11 August 2003). «Nasa turns to Kiwi when it needs expert space advice». New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
Three years ago, Mr Coleman, a website designer, posted a message on an internet bulletin board about Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu in southern Hawkes Bay. It is the second-longest place name in the world, according to Wises New Zealand Guide.
- ^ «pięćdziesięciogroszówka — Słownik SJP». sjp.pl.
- ^ Bălhuc, Paul (15 January 2017). «Câte litere are cel mai lung cuvânt din limba română și care este singurul termen ce conține toate vocalele». Adevărul (in Romanian).
- ^ «Electroglotospectrografie». Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române (in Romanian). Retrieved 10 February 2021.
- ^ «Curiozități lingvistice: cele mai lungi cuvinte din limba română». Dicție.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 10 February 2021.
- ^ «Слитное и раздельное написание имён числительных — Агентство переводов Lingvotech». lingvotech.com.
- ^ «Ἡλληνιστεύκοντος». hellenisteukontos.blogspot.in. 13 March 2010.
- ^ McFarlan, Donald; McWhirter, Norris (1991). Guinness Book of World Records, 1991. ISBN 9780553289541.
- ^ «Guinness World Records – Longest word». Retrieved 23 September 2017.
- ^ «Aké je najdlhšie slovo v slovenčine?». sme.sk.
- ^ http://www.juls.savba.sk/ediela/ks/2012/4/ks2012-4.pdf[bare URL PDF]
- ^ «Viete, ktoré slovo slovenského jazyka je najdlhšie?». 23 November 2021.
- ^ «Promo/NocVyskumnikov2011/Kviz».
- ^ «Najdlhšie slová v slovenčine, aké dokážeme povedať a vysloviť». 8 December 2016.
- ^ Roldán Calzado, Juan Luis (2 October 2008). «La palabra más larga». Me la juego a letras (in Spanish). Lulu Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-1-4092-2893-6. Retrieved 15 March 2017 – via Google Books.
- ^ «Anticonstitucional | Diccionario de la lengua española».
- ^ The Guinness Book of Records 1985. Guinness Books. 1985. p. 89. ISBN 0-85112-419-4.
- ^ Sonja Lang. «New official word / Nova oficiala vorto». Retrieved 7 March 2022.
- ^ Sonja Lang (2021). Toki Pona Dictionary. ISBN 978-0-9782923-6-2.
- ^ «toki pona | toki! After a lot of demand for a sitelen pona glyph for the extinct words «**apeja**» and «**kijetesantakalu**» *(believe it or not), *I’ve d…» www.facebook.com. 13 July 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
- ^ Sonja Lang (2014). Toki Pona: The Language of Good. ISBN 978-0-9782923-0-0.
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- ^ Barnes, Leslie (2014). Vietnam and the Colonial Condition of French Literature. University of Nebraska Press. p. 125. ISBN 978-0-8032-66759 – via Google Books.
The formal characteristics of Vietnamese compounds are not completely clear, however, and because no obvious graphic boundaries exist to demarcate one word from another, the distinction between word and phrase is often very difficult to discern.
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Ready to take your Scrabble skills to the next level? This list of the longest words in the English language could score you major points on your next game — if you can remember how to spell them.
Some of the words that qualify for the title take hours to pronounce, like the 189,819-letter word for the protein Titin. Additionally, many of the longest words are medical terms, so we have excluded some of them to allow for more variety. The end result is a list of fascinatingly lengthy words that will make your vocabulary downright sesquipedalian.
Antidisestablishmentarianism
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: opposition to the disestablishment of the Church of England
Origins: While the word originated in 19th century Britain, it is now used to refer to any opposition to a government withdrawing support from a religious organization. Though rarely used in casual conversation, the word was featured in the Duke Ellington song, “You’re Just an Old Antidisestablishmentarianist.”
Floccinaucinihilipilification
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: the act of defining or estimating something as worthless
Origins: This word stems from the combination of four Latin words, all of which signify that something has little value: flocci, nauci, nihili, pilifi. This style of word creation was popular in Britain in the 1700s.
Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: an invented word said to mean a lung disease caused by inhaling a fine dust
Origins: This word emerged in the late 1930s, and was said to be invented by Everett K. Smith, president of the National Puzzlers’ League, in an imitation of very long medical terms. It is not found in real medical usage.
Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: an inherited disorder similar to pseudohypoparathyroidism
Origins: This genetic disorder causes “short stature, round face and short hand bones,” according to the National Institutes of Health. Despite having a similar name, it is not the same as pseudohypoparathyroidism.
Psychoneuroendocrinological
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: of or related to to the branch of science concerned with the relationships between psychology, the nervous system, and the endocrine system
Origins: This term was first seen in the 1970s in Journal of Neurological Science, a medical journal.
Sesquipedalian
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: having many syllables or characterized by the use of long words
Origins: The Roman poet Horace used this term to caution young poets against relying on words that used a large number of letters. It was adopted in the 17th century by poets to ridicule their peers who used lengthy words.
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: fear of long words
Fun Fact: This word is most often used in humorous contexts. It is an extension of the word sesquipedalophobia, which has the same meaning and is more often used in a formal context.
Incomprehensibilities
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: things that are impossible to understand or comprehend
Fun Fact: In the 1990s, this word was named the longest word in common usage.
Uncopyrightable
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: not able or allowed to be protected by copyright
Fun Fact: This word is one of the longest isograms (a word that does not repeat letters) in the English language.
Dermatoglyphics
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: the scientific study of hands, including fingerprints, lines, mounts, and shapes
Fun Fact: Unlike palmistry, this study is based in science and is often used in criminology as a way to identify both perpetrators and victims.
Euouae
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: a type of cadence in medieval music
Fun Fact: While this word might not look as impressive as others on this list, it’s the longest word in the English language to be composed entirely of vowels. (It’s also the word with the longest string of vowels.)
Psychophysicotherapeutics
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: a therapeutic approach that integrates both the mind and body
Fun Fact: While the Oxford Dictionary does not provide an official definition of this word, it is included on their list of the longest words in the English language.
Otorhinolaryngological
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: of or relating to the medical specialization involving the ear, nose, and throat
Fun Fact: This medical specialization is more commonly known by its acronym, ENT.
By
Last updated:
March 10, 2023
The longest word in the English language is “pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.”
Try saying that quickly five times!
In this post we’ll explore some of the longest words in English, plus teach you how to break them down so that you can pronounce them easily.
Contents
- Longest Word in English: Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
- More Long Words in English
-
- Methionylthreonylthreonylglutaminylalanyl…isoleucine
- Floccinaucinihilipilification
- Incomprehensibility
- Surreptitious
- Uncharacteristically
- Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
- Subdermatoglyphic
- Abstentious
- Uncopyrightable
- Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia
- Antidisestablishmentarianism
- Honorificabilitudinitatibus
- Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism
- Longest Adjectives in English
- Longest Suffixes in English
- Longest Prefixes in English
- Longest Verbs in English
- How to Learn the Longest Words in English
Download:
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Click here to get a copy. (Download)
Longest Word in English: Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
Letters: 45
Definition (noun): Lung disease caused by breathing in dust or volcanic ash
The patient is experiencing signs of pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis after hiking near the site of a volcanic eruption.
This is the longest word that exists in the English language. As with other long words, you should be patient and break it down into its individual components.
As you can see below, knowing the parts of this word will be especially helpful for anyone studying English in an academic, scientific or medical environment.
Essential word parts: Pneumo- (lung), microscopic- (small), coni- (particles) and a suffix: -osis (often indicates a disease).
More Long Words in English
We will show you the essential parts of these long words that can help you learn the word itself and other English words. We will specifically note common English prefixes and suffixes to pay attention to.
Methionylthreonylthreonylglutaminylalanyl…isoleucine
Letters: 189,819
Definition (noun): Chemical composition of “titin,” which is the largest known protein in the body
This word has taken some people around 2-3.5 hours to pronounce! Amazing, isn’t it? It’s not, however, considered the longest word in English—because it’s not in a dictionary.
Essential word parts: Amino acid residues that make up the protein. These include methionine, threonine, glutamine, alanine, and isoleucine.
Floccinaucinihilipilification
Letters: 29
Definition (noun): Deciding that something has no value
Since my wallet was becoming so huge, I took a few minutes for some floccinaucinihilipilification of all the old cards I was keeping in there.
This is one of those complex words that seems made up. It was formed from various Latin words and can still be confusing to understand after breaking it down.
Essential word part: Nihili- (nothing)
Incomprehensibility
Letters: 19
Definition (noun): Impossible to understand
The incomprehensibility of the word made people question its meaning.
This word has common prefixes and suffixes that you will see in many other English words. Plus, you may already be familiar with more basic forms of this word, such as incomprehensible (adjective — impossible to understand)
Essential word parts: include a prefix in- (not), a root word prehend (from the Latin for “grasp”), and a suffix: –ity (suffix used to form a noun out of an adjective).
Surreptitious
Letters: 13
Definition (adjective): Secret, stealthy
The robbers were surreptitious as they stole the jewels.
This word is used fairly regularly among native English speakers. It is one of the less complex long English words.
Essential word part: Prefix: sur- (under, below)
Uncharacteristically
Letters: 20
Definition (adverb): Not typical
The star basketball player uncharacteristically missed the game-winning shot.
Here is another fairly standard word that helps you practice both a common prefix and suffix.
Essential word parts: Prefix: un- (not) and a suffix: -ly (used to form an adjective)
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Letters: 34
Definition (adjective): Especially wonderful
The sun is shining and all is right in the world. It is a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious day.
This is a made-up word that native English speakers recognize from the classic 1964 “Mary Poppins” movie (although a version of this word was invented even earlier).
Essential word parts: Cali- (beauty).
Subdermatoglyphic
Letters: 17
Definition (adjective): Pertaining to the layer of the skin beneath the fingertips
The subdermatoglyphic state of everyone’s fingerprints are different.
This word is extremely rare, and may be more interesting to linguists than to medical professionals. That is because it is a very long isogram, or a word that does not repeat any letters.
Essential word parts: Prefix: sub- (under, below — similar to “sur-“), derma- (skin) and a suffix: -ic (used to form an adjective).
Abstentious
Letters: 11
Definition (adjective): Self-restraining
You never have trouble sticking to your diet. You are so abstentious!
You will more commonly hear abstain, the verb form of this word. Abstain means to avoid or restrain yourself from something, like alcohol, online-shopping, food, etc.
Essential word parts: Suffix: -ious (used to form an adjective).
Uncopyrightable
Letters: 15
Definition (adjective): Not able to copyright a piece of artwork. If something is uncopyrightable, one person cannot prevent others from copying or distributing the art.
The idea was not original, so it was unfortunately uncopyrightable.
Un- and -able are common word parts. Try to memorize these and look for them in other English words.
Essential word parts: Prefix: un- (not) and a suffix: -able (ability).
Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia
Letters: 35
Definition (noun): Fear of long words
As she read this article, she realized that she had a severe case of hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia.
This may be how you are feeling right now.
Essential word parts: Suffix: -phobia (fear).
Antidisestablishmentarianism
Letters: 28
Definition (noun): A political philosophy opposed to the disestablishment of the Church of England.
The word was used to describe a political movement in England in the 1800s. People supporting this movement were against a plan to separate the church from the state.
There were many supporters of antidisestablishmentarianism in Wales.
Essential word parts: Prefix: anti- (against) and dis- (opposite of), suffix: -arian (engaged in), and -ism (a belief in).
Honorificabilitudinitatibus
Letters: 27
Definition (noun): State of being able to achieve honors.
Dumbledore was well-known for lots of things, including being honorificabilitudinitatibus.
This rare Latin word features in William Shakespeare’s play “Love’s Labour’s Lost.”
Essential word parts: A root word honorificabilitudin (the state of being honorable) and suffix: –itatibus (a state of being).
Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism
Letters: 28
Definition (noun): A rare inherited endocrine disorder that causes abnormal growth of bones.
She was diagnosed with pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism.
Essential word parts: Pseudo-(prefix) meaning false, hypo-(prefix) meaning below. Parathyroid- (root word) small glands in our body which regulate calcium, and -ism (suffix) meaning “a belief in.”
Longest Adjectives in English
- Unconventionally — something or someone is not following accepted standards or conventions (14 letters)
- Uncontrollably — in a way that is too strong to be restrained or controlled (13 letters)
- Unforgettably — in a manner that you cannot forget it (13 letters)
- Unimaginably — in a way that’s difficult to imagine (12 letters)
- Unmistakably — in a way that cannot be mistaken for something else (12 letters)
- Unquestionably — in a way that cannot be doubted (13 letters)
- Unreasonably — meaning that something is unfair or not based on good sense (12 letters)
- Unstoppably — in a way that is unable to be stopped (11 letters)
- Unthinkably — it means that something cannot be accepted as a possibility (11 letters)
Longest Suffixes in English
- –-ization — it creates a noun that denotes the act, process or result of an action (9 letters)
- –-iveness — it shows a quality or tendency (9 letters)
- –-fullness — it creates a noun that denotes the quality of being full or complete (9 letters)
Longest Prefixes in English
- Inter- — meaning between, among (5 letters)
- Trans- — meaning across or beyond (5 letters)
- Hyper- — means excessively, beyond normal (5 letters)
- Super- — meaning above, beyond (5 letters)
- Ultra- — meaning extremely, beyond normal (5 letters)
- Mega- — means very large, huge (5 letters)
Longest Verbs in English
- Counterdemonstrate — to demonstrate in opposition to another demonstration (14 letters)
- Decontaminate — to remove dangerous substances from something (12 letters)
- Disenfranchise — to deprive someone of a right or privilege, especially of the right to vote (12 letters)
- Disseminate — to spread widely or to scatter (11 letters)
- Encapsulate — to enclose something in a capsule (11 letters)
- Excommunicate — to expel from a church or other religious organization (12 letters)
- Extrapolate — to infer from known facts or data (11 letters)
- Hypothesize — to form a hypothesis or conjecture (11 letters)
- Interrogate — to question formally or search thoroughly (11 letters)
- Reincorporate — to incorporate again or anew (13 letters)
How to Learn the Longest Words in English
Firstly: Break each word down into manageable parts
While long English words can seem complex, breaking them down into parts will make learning them easier!
Each of the words we discuss in this article, we will show you the important elements including prefixes, suffixes and roots. Let’s define the parts of a word and what they represent.
- Root word: the base form of a word
- Prefix: an element attached to the beginning of a root word that alters its meaning
- Suffix: an element attached to the end of a root word that alters its meaning
Secondly: Use vocabulary memory tricks
-
Put the words and word parts onto flashcards.
Flashcards are a perfect way to study and memorize long words. The language learning program FluentU allows you to make your own multimedia flashcards which are connected to a curated library of authentic videos—including news reports, inspiring talks and music videos. - Keep a running list. Track word components in a notebook. Any time you encounter a new prefix, suffix or root word, write it down in your list. This will help you keep track of the word parts you learn. You can refer to this list as you try to learn other long and complex words.
But most importantly, try to have fun with these words. Be patient and you will start pronouncing them in no time!
Download:
This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you
can take anywhere.
Click here to get a copy. (Download)
На основании Вашего запроса эти примеры могут содержать грубую лексику.
На основании Вашего запроса эти примеры могут содержать разговорную лексику.
The teacher wrote a very long word on the whiteboard.
In German there is a very long word that means working off the past.
That’s a very long word for a very small mosquito.
It’s hard to say because it’s a very long word, you know?
Very long word — This is 64 bits.
Другие результаты
One can build very long words that can correspond to entire sentences in more familiar languages such as English.
Можно построить очень длинные слова, которые соответствуют предложениям в европейских языках, таких как английский, например.
The German language is known for its very long words.
One challenge for language learners is identifying syllable boundaries in the pronunciation of very long words.
Одной из проблем для изучающих язык является определение границ слога в произношении очень длинных слов.
This process is used mainly with very long words.
Этот принцип касается, главным образом, длинных слов.
As in the case of German or Latin, units of meaning, called morphemes, are linked together and occasionally form very long words.
Как и в немецком или латинском языках, морфемы, соединяются между собой, иногда в очень длинные слова.
There’s very long words, they
The most problematic languages are German (very long words) and Greek (Greek alphabet).
наиболее проблемные языки — немецкий (очень длинные слова) и греческий (алфавит)
It is the extension of the very long instruction word (VLIW).
При этом будет использоваться принцип очень длинных командных слов (VLIW — Very Long Instruction Word).
Some architectures of hardware accelerators may be «programmable» via microinstructions or very long instruction word sets.
Некоторые варианты архитектуры аппаратных ускорителей могут «программироваться» с использованием микрокода или языка ассемблера с командными словами очень большой длины (VLIW).
A well known example is the VLIW (very long instruction word) processor.
Основная миссия — разработка процессоров со сверхдлинным командным словом (VLIW — Very Long Instruction Word).
The new unified shader functionality was based upon a Very Long Instruction Word (VLIW) architecture in which the core executes operations in parallel.
Новые унифицированные шейдеры основывались на VLIW-архитектуре (Very Long Instruction Word), согласно которой ядро должно выполнять операции параллельно.
Intel and Transmeta rely on low-level emulation to run 32-bit x86 software on VLIW (very long instruction word) processors.
Intel и Transmeta используют низкоуровневую эмуляцию для работы 32-разрядного программного обеспечения для архитектуры x86 на процессорах VLIW (очень длинное командное слово).
Such compiler packs groups of independent operations into very long instruction words to provide fast start-up and more effective execution by functional units.
Такой компилятор упаковывает группы независимых операций в очень длинные слова инструкций таким способом, чтобы обеспечить быстрый запуск и более эффективное их исполнение функциональными модулями.
When the paragraph are very long, the words get jumbled in the mind of the reader by just looking at it.
Когда абзац очень длинный, слова перемешиваются в сознании читателя при одном только взгляде на текст.
The i860 combined a number of features that were unique at the time, most notably its very long instruction word (VLIW) architecture and powerful support for high-speed floating point operations.
Микропроцессор i860 совместил ряд технических характеристик, которые были уникальны для того времени, в частности использование архитектуры VLIW и наличие мощной поддержки высокоскоростных операций с плавающей запятой.
Результатов: 22532. Точных совпадений: 5. Затраченное время: 484 мс
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Индекс слова: 1-300, 301-600, 601-900
Индекс выражения: 1-400, 401-800, 801-1200
Индекс фразы: 1-400, 401-800, 801-1200
Last Updated: Dec 30, 2019
How many words exactly are in the English language? The second edition of the current 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary contains 171,476 words in current use. That’s a lot! Which gets the mind thinking the next question, what’s the longest word in current use today?
Many of the longest words in the dictionary refer to medicine or chemistry. You’ll find a few defined in here along with other long words that you may or may not already use. Here’s how Merriam-Webster defines the ten longest words in the English language.
1. Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (45 letters)
Pneumoconiosis caused by inhalation of very fine silicate or quartz dust.
2. Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia (36 letters)
Ironically, Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is one of the longest work in the dictionary and is the name for a fear of long words! Who would have thought, right?
3. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (34 letters)
Perhaps the best word of all! Made popular by the film Mary Poppins, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious is something to say when you have nothing to say.
4. Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism (30 letters)
A relatively mild form of pseudohypoparathyroidism that is characterized by normal levels of calcium and phosphorus in the blood.
5. Floccinaucinihilipilification (29 letters)
The longest unchallenged nontechnical word that not all directories recognize, that including Merriam-Webster. According to alternative sources, floccinaucinihilipilification is the act or habit of describing or regarding something as unimportant, of having no value or being worthless. Often times, it is used in a humorous way.
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6. Antidisestablishmentarianism (28 letters)
A term referring to a political movement in 19th century Britain that sought to separate church and state. In this case, political movement wanted to disestablish the Church of England as the official state church of England, Ireland and Wales.
7. Honorificabilitudinitatibus (27 letters)
The longest word in Shakespeare’s works. Honorificabilitudinitatibus is the longest word in the English language featuring alternating consonants and vowels.
8. Thyroparathyroidectomized (25 letters)
A medical term that defines the excision of both the thyroid and parathyroid glands.
9. Dichlorodifluoromethane (23 letters)
A chlorofluoromethane CF2Cl2.
10. Incomprehensibilities (21 letters)
Impossible to comprehend. In the 1990’s, incomprehensibilities set the record as the longest word “in common usage.”
LONGEST ENGLISH WORD:Methionylthreonylthreonylglutaminylarginyl…isoleucine (189,819 letters)
If we’re talking chemistry, the longest chemical name is 189,819 letters long. It is the chemical name for titin, a giant filamentous protein essential to the structure, development, and elasticity of muscle. As to whether or not this is an actual word is disputed by many. It is not in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, so you shouldn’t ever have to worry about spelling it. ?