A Collection of Word Oddities and Trivia, Page 11

LONG WORDS (ENGLISH)

From the New Words section (1939) of Webster's New Internaitonal Dictionary, 2nd ed.

From Webster's Third New Internaitonal Dictionary (1961)

PNEUMONOULTRAMICROSCOPICSILICOVOLCANOCONIOSIS (45 letters; a lung disease caused by breathing in certain particles) is the longest word in any English-language dictionary. (It is also spelled -koniosis.)

On Feb. 23, 1935, the New York Herald-Tribune reported on page 3:

Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis succeeded electrophotomicrographically as the longest word in the English language recognized by the National Puzzlers' League at the opening session of the organization's 103d semi-annual meeting held yesterday at the Hotel New Yorker. The puzzlers explained that the forty-five-letter word is the name of a special form of silicosis caused by ultra-microscopic particles of siliceous volcanic dust.

The OED2 has:

pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (-koniosis), a factitious word alleged to mean 'a lung disease caused by the inhalation of very fine silica dust' but occurring chiefly as an instance of a very long word.

1936 F. Scully Bedside Manna 87 *Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanakoniosis [sic], a disease caused by ultra-microscopic particles of sandy volcanic dust, might give even him laryngitis.

1966 Word Study Oct. 7/2 The resources of Greek have enriched the modern world as well as the ancient one. Perhaps this is most dramatically illustrated by the longest and most fantastic word now in an English dictionary (the Merriam-Webster's great Unabridged) which is forty-five letters in length: pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis,..meaning 'a disease of the lungs caused by extremely small particles of ash and dust'.

1973 R. Megarry Second Miscellany-at-Law 160 It has been said that 'floccinaucinihilipilification' is the longest word in the English language... The word's proud title must yield to some technical terms, such as pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis.

I conjecture that this "word" was coined by word puzzlers, who then worked assiduously to get it into the major unabridged dictionaries (perhaps with a wink from the editors?) to put an end to the endless squabbling about what is the longest word.

[Note: To be precisely correct, pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is the longest vocabulary entry in any English-language dictionary. Stuart Kidd points out that a longer word actually appears in the OED2, although only as part of a quoted citation for a different word. It is a 75-letter chemical name with numerous hyphens, and it is described on page 13 of this web site. Several other citations in the OED2 include multiple words that are "run together" with or without hyphens, forming "words" of more than 45 letters.]

Karl F. Lingenfelder reports that the domain name pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.com was registered on October 28, 1999, and that when activated it will point to http://www.mauigateway.com/~team/longestwordinenglish/ This is a commercial website selling domain names.

The domain name Iamtheproudownerofthelongestlongestlongestdomainnameinthisworld.com may be the longest domain name. In 2005 the web page at this address states, "This record cannot be broken with a .com domain, because 63 letters is the maximum number of letters that can be registered as a domain name. Owner of the Longest Domain Name in this World : Dr. Subrahmanyam Karuturi"

TETRAMETHYLDIAMINOBENZHYDRYLPHOSPHINOUS ACID (39 letters in the first word) appears in the OED2 in a citation for another word; this word itself is not a vocabulary entry.

HEPATICOCHOLANGIOCHOLECYSTENTEROSTOMIES (39 letters; surgical creation of a connection between the gall bladder and a hepatic duct and between the intestine and the gall bladder) is the longest word in Gould's Medical Dictionary.

FORMALDEHYDETETRAMETHYLAMIDOFLUORIMUM (37 letters) is in the OED2.

DIMETHYLAMIDOPHENYLDIMETHYLPYRAZOLONE (37 letters) is in the OED2.

SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS (34 letters) from the movie Mary Poppins is not the longest word in English, although many people believe it is. The word is in the OED, which has the following as the first four citations:

1949 Parker & Young (unpublished song-title) Supercalafajalistickespialadojus.

1951 Parker & Young (song-title) Supercalafajalistickespeealadojus; or, The super song.

1964 R. M. & R. B; Sherman (song-title) Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

1967 Decisions U.S. Courts involving Copyright 1965-66 488 The complaint alleges copyright infringement of plaintiff's song `Supercalafajalistickespeealadojus' by defendants' song 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.' (All variants of this tongue twister will hereinafter be referred to collectively as 'the word'.)

DICHLORODIPHENYLTRICHLOROETHANE (31 letters; usually abbreviated DDT) is the longest word in the Macquarie Dictionary and is in the OED2.

PSEUDOPSEUDOHYPOPARATHYROIDISM (30 letters) is defined in the OED2 as "a familial disorder in which the skeletal and developmental abnormalities of pseudohypoparathyroidism are present without the biochemical abnormalities common to hypoparathyroidism and pseudohypoparathyroidism" [Philip Bennett].

FLOCCINAUCINIHILIPILIFICATION (29 letters; an estimation of something as worthless) is the longest word in the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. The OED2 shows a use of this word in a 1741 letter by William Shenstone (1714-1763), a British poet and essayist. It has been used by Sir Walter Scott and Senators Robert Byrd and Daniel Patrick Moynihan. It was used by Senator Jesse Helms in 1999 during the debate on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty [Randolph V. Cinco]. It also appeared on March 14, 1996, in "Zippy," a comic strip distributed by King Features Syndicate:

Do you think I may be too quick to find fault with things and people, Zippy?

Yeh.

Th' 'floccinaucinihilipilification' process.

Th' what?

Floccinaucinihilipilification!! It means 'the estimation of something as valueless'!

You've been randomly reading th' dictionary, haven't you?

Yes. That and my natural tendency toward antifloccinaucinihilipilification!!

The 1992 Guinness Book of World Records calls floccinaucinihilipilification "the longest real word in the Oxford English Dictionary," whereas it calls pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis "the longest made-up word in the Oxford English Dictionary."

The Merriam-Webster website in 2002 stated that floccinaucinihilipilification "is not in any of the Merriam-Webster dictionaries because our evidence shows us that it is ... almost always used simply as an example of a long word."

In this word the letter i occurs nine times, but e, the most commonly used letter in English, does not occur.

TRINITROPHENYLMETHYLNITRAMINE (29 letters; a type of explosive) is the longest chemical term in W3.

ANTIDISESTABLISHMENTARIANISM (28 letters) may be the best-known long word. The word means "the belief which opposes removing the tie between church and state."

PARADIMETHYLAMINOBENZALDEHYDE (29 letters) is the name of a chemical substance and is found on several Internet web pages [Richard Eisenberger]. Isaac Asimov, in an essay titled "You, Too, Can Speak Gaelic," points out that the word can be sung to the tune of The Irish Washerwoman, the best-known Irish jig. The essay is about understanding chemical nomenclature [Mark Brader].

HONORIFICABILITUDINITATIBUS (27 letters) is the longest word used by Shakespeare. It appears in Love's Labor's Lost, Act V, Scene I, and is spoken by Costard:

O, they have lived long on the alms-basket of words.

I marvel thy master hath not eaten thee for a word;

for thou art not so long by the head as

honorificabilitudinitatibus: thou art easier

swallowed than a flap-dragon.

The next-longest words used by Shakespeare are ANTHROPOPHAGINIAN, INDISTINGUISHABLE, and UNDISTINGUISHABLE (all with 17 letters) and INCOMPREHENSIBLE and NORTHAMPTONSHIRE (both with 16 letters) [Nelson H. F. Beebe].

INTERNATIONALIZATION (or INTERNATIONALISATION) has a common abbreviation among computer people based on its length: I18N or i18n, i.e. there are 18 letters omitted [Mark Brader].

ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHICALLY and ETHYLENEDIAMINETETRAACETATE (27 letters) are the longest words without spaces or hyphens in MWCD10.

ETHYLENEDIAMINETETRAACETATE, HYDROXYDESOXYCORTICOSTERONE, and OCTAMETHYLPYROPHOSPHORAMIDE (all with 27 letters) are tied for second-longest chemical term in W3.

METHYLCHLOROISOTHIAZOLINONE (27 letters) is found in Pert Plus shampoo, according to John Carroll.

ANTITRANSUBSTANTIATIONALIST (27 letters; one who doubts that consecrated bread and wine actually change into the body and blood of Christ).

ETHYLENEDIAMINETETRAACETIC ACID (26 letters in the first word) is in MWCD10. The substance is abbreviated EDTA.

ANHYDROHYDROXYPROGESTERONE (26 letters; a synthetic crystalline female sex hormone) is the third-longest chemical term in W3.

CYSTOURETEROPYELONEPHRITIS (26 letters; a combined inflammation of the urinary bladder, ureters, and kidneys) is a long medical term mentioned by Paul Hellweg in The Insomniac's Dictionary.

DISPROPORTIONABLENESS and INCOMPREHENSIBILITIES (21 letters) are described by the 1992 Guinness Book of World Records as "the longest words in common use."

The LEVATOR LABII SUPERIORIS ALAEQUE NASI is a thin triangular muscle located on the side of the nose [Charles Turner].

PHILIP C. BENNETT’S COMPILATION (2007)

50 LONGEST WORDS IN ON-LINE DICTIONARIES

1. PNEUMONOULTRAMICROSCOPICSILICOVOLCANOCONIOSIS 45 2. TETRAMETHYLDIAMINOBENZHYDRYLPHOSPHINOUS 39 3. DIMETHYLAMIDOPHENYLDIMETHYLPYRAZOLONE 37 4. FORMALDEHYDETETRAMETHYLAMIDOFLUORIMUM 37 5. BUTYLAMINOBENZYLDIMETHYLAMINOETHANOL 36 6. CHOLANGIOCHOLECYSTOCHOLEDOCHECTOMY 34 7. METHYLENEDIOXYPHENYLISOPROPYLAMINE 34 8. SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS 34 9. DICHLOROBENZYLTRIBUTYLPHOSPHONIUM 33 10. DIETHYLSULPHONEMETHYLETHYLMETHANE 33 11. SUPERCALAFAJALISTICKESPEEALADOJUS 33 12. CONJUNCTIVODACRYOCYSTORHINOSTOMY 32 13. TETRACHLOROTETRABROMOFLUORESCEIN 32 14. DICHLORODIPHENYLTRICHLOROETHANE 31 15. PHENYLDIETHYLHYDRAZONIUMBROMIDE 31 16. DIMETHYLCYCLOPROPANECARBOXYLIC 30 17. PSEUDOPSEUDOHYPOPARATHYROIDISM 30 18. TETRAHYDROPARAMETHOXYQUINOLINE 30 19. TETRAMETHYLDIAMINOBENZOPHENONE 30 20. TRINITROPHENYLMETHYLNITRAMINES 30 21. ALLYLISOPROPYLACETYLCARBAMIDE 29 22. AMINOBENZENESULPHONYLTHIAZOLE 29 23. DICHLOROTETRABROMOFLUORESCEIN 29 24. DIETHYLENETRIAMINEPENTAACETIC 29 25. FLOCCINAUCINIHILIPILIFICATION 29 26. METHYLENEDIOXYMETHAMPHETAMINE 29 27. TETRACHLORODIBENZOPARADIOXINE 29 28. TETRAETHYLDIAMINOBENZOPHENONE 29 29. TRIETHYLSULPHONEMETHYLMETHANE 29 30. TETRAACETYLGALACTOSEPTANOSES 29 31. TETRACHLORODIBENZOPARADIOXIN 29 32. TRIFLUOROMETHYLPHENOTHIAZINE 29 33. TRINITROPHENYLNITRAMINOETHYL 29 34. AMMONIUMPEROXOCOBALTICOBALTE 28 35. ANTIDISESTABLISHMENTARIANISM 28 36. CAMPHOFORMENEAMINECARBOXYLIC 28 37. COUNTERIMMUNOELECTROPHORESIS 28 38. ELECTROPHOTOMICROGRAPHICALLY 28 39. ESOPHAGOJEJUNOGASTROSTOMOSIS 28 40. HEPATICOCHOLANGIOGASTROSTOMY 28 41. HYDROXYPYRROLIDINECARBOXYLIC 28 42. HYSTEROSALPINGOLOOPHORECTOMY 28 43. MONOGALACTOSYLDIACYLGLYCEROL 28 44. OCTAMETHYLCYCLOTETRASILOXANE 28 45. OCTAMETHYLPYROPHOSPHORAMIDES 28 46. PHENETHYLFORMAMINYLIMINOUREA 28 47. PHENOXYACETAMIDOPENICILLANIC 28 48. PROSTATOSEMINALVESICULECTOMY 28 49. SPECTROPHOTOFLUOROMETRICALLY 28 50. TETRAHYDRODICYCLOPENTADIENE 28

LONGEST WORDS IN ON-LINE DICTIONARIES, ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED

In the following list, MWUD = Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary; OED2000+ = Oxford English Dictionary - New 2000+ Edition; OLMD = The Online Medical Dictionary 2007; Dorland = Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary 2007; Weisstein = Eric Weisstein's World of Mathematics.

ALLYLISOPROPYLACETYLCARBAMIDE 29 OED2000+ AMINOBENZENESULPHONYLTHIAZOLE 29 OED2000+ AMMONIUMPEROXOCOBALTICOBALTE 28 OED2000+ ANTIDISESTABLISHMENTARIANISM 28 Dictionary.com ALKYLDIMETHYLBENZYLAMMONIUM 27 OED2000+ ANHYDROHYDROXYPROGESTERONES 27 MWUD ANTIDISESTABLISHMENTARIANS 26 OED2000+ ANTIESTABLISHMENTARIANISMS 26 MWUD AMINONAPHTHOLDISULPHONIC 24 OED2000+ AMINOBENZENESULPHONAMIDE 24 OED2000+ BUTYLAMINOBENZYLDIMETHYLAMINOETHANOL 36 OED2000+ BENZOYLAMINOINDOLYLACRYLIC 26 OED2000+ BROMPHENYLMERCAPTURSAURE 24 OED2000+ BENZYLIDENEACETOPHENONE 23 OED2000+ BETAIMIDAZOLYLETHYLAMIN 23 OED2000+ BLEPHAROSPHINCTERECTOMY 23 Dorland BENZENEPENTACARBOXYLIC 22 OED2000+ BENZIMIDAZOLECARBAMATE 22 OED2000+ BLEPHAROCONJUNCTIVITIS 22 Dorland BROMOPHENYLMERCAPTURIC 22 OED2000+ CHOLANGIOCHOLECYSTOCHOLEDOCHECTOMY 34 Dorland CONJUNCTIVODACRYOCYSTORHINOSTOMY 32 OLMD CAMPHOFORMENEAMINECARBOXYLIC 28 OED2000+ COUNTERIMMUNOELECTROPHORESIS 28 OED2000+ CHRYSANTHEMUMMONOCARBOXYLIC 27 MWUD CONJUNCTIVODACRYOCYSTOSTOMY 27 Dorland CHOLECYSTENTEROANASTOMOSIS 26 Dorland CHLOROBENZALMALONONITRILE 25 OED2000+ CHLOROVINYLDICHLOROARSINE 25 OED2000+ CHLORODIBENZOPARADIOXIN 23 OED2000+ DIMETHYLAMIDOPHENYLDIMETHYLPYRAZOLONE 37 OED2000+ DICHLOROBENZYLTRIBUTYLPHOSPHONIUM 33 OED2000+ DIETHYLSULPHONEMETHYLETHYLMETHANE 33 OED2000+ DICHLORODIPHENYLTRICHLOROETHANE 31 Dictionary.com DIMETHYLCYCLOPROPANECARBOXYLIC 30 OED2000+ DICHLOROTETRABROMOFLUORESCEIN 29 OED2000+ DIETHYLENETRIAMINEPENTAACETIC 29 OED2000+ DIPHOSPHOPYRIDINENUCLEOTIDE 27 OED2000+ DIMETHYLALLYLUMBELLIFERONE 26 OED2000+ DIHYDROXYPHENYLETHYLAMINE 25 OED2000+ ELECTROPHOTOMICROGRAPHICALLY 28 OED2000+ ESOPHAGOJEJUNOGASTROSTOMOSIS 28 Dorland ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHICALLY 27 MWUD ETHYLENEDIAMINETETRAACETATE 27 MWUD ELECTRONYSTAGMOGRAPHICALLY 26 OED2000+ ETHYLENEBISDITHIOCARBAMATE 26 OED2000+ ETHYLMERCURITHIOSALICYLATE 26 OED2000+ ELECTROCORTICOGRAPHICALLY 25 MWUD ECHOENCEPHALOGRAPHICALLY 24 OED2000+ ELECTROCARDIOGRAPHICALLY 24 MWUD FORMALDEHYDETETRAMETHYLAMIDOFLUORIMUM 37 OED2000+ FLOCCINAUCINIHILIPILIFICATION 29 OED2000+ FORMALDEHYDESULFOXYLATES 24 MWUD FLUOROROENTGENOGRAPHY 21 MWUD FLUOROHYDROCORTISONE 20 OED2000+ FUMAROYLACETOACETATE 20 OED2000+ FOREHANDIDIFICATION 19 OED2000+ FUMARYLACETOACETATE 19 OED2000+ FURFURYLAMINOPURINE 19 OED2000+ FELICIFICATIVENESS 18 OED2000+ GASTROJEJUNOESOPHAGOSTOMY 25 Dorland GUANIDINYLSULPHANILAMIDE 24 OED2000+ GLYCYLGLUTAMYLDIGLYCINE 23 OED2000+ GLOBOTETRAOSYLCERAMIDE 22 OED2000+ GLUTAMYLTRANSPEPTIDASE 22 OED2000+ GASTROESOPHAGOSTOMIES 21 OED2000+ GASTROPHILANTHROPISTS 21 OED2000+ GASTRODUODENOSTOMIES 20 MWUD GLOMERULONEPHRITISES 20 MWUD GLOMERULONEPHROPATHY 20 OED2000+ HEPATICOCHOLANGIOGASTROSTOMY 28 OED2000+ HYDROXYPYRROLIDINECARBOXYLIC 28 OED2000+ HYSTEROSALPINGOLOOPHORECTOMY 28 Dictionary.com HEPATOCHOLANGIODUODENOSTOMY 27 Dorland HONORIFICABILITUDINITATIBUS 27 OED2000+ HYDROXYDEOXYCORTICOSTERONES 27 MWUD HEXADECYLTRIMETHYLAMMONIUM 26 OED2000+ HYDROXYMERCURIFLUORESCEIN 25 OED2000+ HYDROXYPHENYLPYRAZOLIDINE 25 OED2000+ HYDROCHLOROFLUOROCARBONS 24 MWUD IMMUNOELECTROPHORETICALLY 25 MWUD INTERDENOMINISATIONALISM 24 OED2000+ ISOPROPYLCARBAMOYLBENZYL 24 OED2000+ ITAMONOCHLORPYROTARTARIC 24 OED2000+ ICOSIDODECADODECAHEDRON 23 Weisstein INDISTINGUISHABLENESSES 23 MWUD INCIRCUMSCRIPTIBLENESS 22 OED2000+ INDIGOTINDISULPHONATES 22 OED2000+ IMMUNOSYMPATHECTOMIZED 22 OED2000+ IMMUNOELECTROPHORESIS 21 Dictionary.com JURISPRUDENTIALIST 18 OED2000+ JEJUNOJEJUNOSTOMY 17 Dorland JUNGERMANNIACEOUS 17 MWUD JURISPRUDENTIALLY 17 Dictionary.com JUSTIFIABLENESSES 17 MWUD JUSTITIEOMBUDSMAN 17 OED2000+ JACKASSIFICATION 16 OED2000+ JOLTERHEADEDNESS 16 OED2000+ JOURNALISTICALLY 16 OED2000+ JUXTAPOSITIONING 16 OED2000+ KERATOCONJUNCTIVITISES 22 MWUD KINEMATOGRAPHICALLY 19 OED2000+ KNOWLEDGEABLENESSES 19 MWUD KERATOCONJUNCTIVAL 18 OED2000+ KLANGFARBENMELODIE 18 OED2000+ KAKORRHAPHIOPHOBIA 18 MWUD KIRKCUDBRIGHTSHIRE 18 MWUD KNOWLEDGEABILITIES 18 MWUD KALEIDOSCOPICALLY 17 OED2000+ KINAESTHESIOMETER 17 OED2000+ LARYNGOTRACHEOBRONCHOSCOPY 26 Dorland LARYNGOTRACHEOBRONCHITIS 24 MWUD LYSOPHOSPHATIDYLCHOLINE 23 MWUD LYMPHANGIOENDOTHELIOMA 22 MWUD LEUKOENCEPHALOPATHIES 21 OED2000+ LYMPHANGIOGRAPHICALLY 21 OED2000+ LABYRINTHIBRANCHIATE 20 OED2000+ LABYRINTHINECTOMIZED 20 OED2000+ LITHOCHROMATOGRAPHIC 20 OED2000+ LITHOSTRATIGRAPHICAL 20 OED2000+ METHYLENEDIOXYPHENYLISOPROPYLAMINE 34 OED2000+ METHYLENEDIOXYMETHAMPHETAMINE 29 Dictionary.com MONOGALACTOSYLDIACYLGLYCEROL 28 OED2000+ MICROSPECTROPHOTOMETRICALLY 27 MWUD METHYLENEAMINOACETONITRILE 26 OED2000+ METHYLISOPROPYLCYCLOHEXANE 26 OED2000+ METANITROMETACHLOROPHENOL 25 OED2000+ METHANESULFONYLFORTIMICIN 25 OED2000+ METHYLACETYLENECARBOXYLIC 25 OED2000+ METHYLENEDIOXYAMPHETAMINE 25 MWUD NITROCHLOROANTHRAQUINONES 25 OED2000+ NITROPHENYLTHIOPHOSPHATE 24 OED2000+ NEPHROURETEROCYSTECTOMY 23 Dorland NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY 23 MWUD NITROFURFURYLIDENEAMINO 23 OED2000+ NONREPRESENTATIONALISMS 23 MWUD NUCLEOCOSMOCHRONOLOGIES 23 OED2000+ NAPHTHALENETRISULFONIC 22 MWUD NEUROPHARMACOLOGICALLY 22 OED2000+ NEXAHYDROHEPTASULPHATE 22 OED2000+ NUCLEOTIDYLTRANSFERASE 22 MWUD OCTAMETHYLCYCLOTETRASILOXANE 28 OED2000+ OCTAMETHYLPYROPHOSPHORAMIDES 28 MWUD OESOPHAGOGASTRODUODENOSCOPY 27 OLMD OLIGODEOXYRIBONUCLEOTIDES 25 MWUD OVERINTELLECTUALIZATION 23 OED2000+ OMNIREPRESENTATIVENESS 22 OED2000+ ORTHONITROBROMOBENZENE 22 OED2000+ OTORHINOLARYNGOLOGICAL 22 OED2000+ OTORHINOLARYNGOLOGISTS 22 MWUD OCTOHYDRONAPHTYRIDINE 21 OED2000+ PNEUMONOULTRAMICROSCOPICSILICOVOLCANOCONIOSIS 45 MWUD PHENYLDIETHYLHYDRAZONIUMBROMIDE 31 OED2000+ PSEUDOPSEUDOHYPOPARATHYROIDISM 30 OED2000+ PHENETHYLFORMAMINYLIMINOUREA 28 OED2000+ PHENOXYACETAMIDOPENICILLANIC 28 OED2000+ PROSTATOSEMINALVESICULECTOMY 28 OLMD PHENOLPOLYSULFONYLCHLORIDES 27 OED2000+ PHOSPHORIBOSYLPYROPHOSPHATE 27 MWUD POLYCHLOROTRIFLUOROETHYLENE 27 OED2000+ PHENYLNITROSOHYDROXYLAMINE 26 OED2000+ PNEUMOENCEPHALOGRAPHICALLY 26 MWUD QUASIRHOMBICUBOCTAHEDRON 24 Weisstein QUADRISACRAMENTALIST 20 OED2000+ QUARTERMASTERIVENESS 20 OED2000+ QUINOLINECARBOXYLIC 19 OED2000+ QUADRATOMANDIBULAR 18 MWUD QUADRICOTYLEDONOUS 18 OED2000+ QUADRILINGUALITIES 18 MWUD QUANTIFICATIONALLY 18 MWUD QUARTERMASTERSHIPS 18 OED2000+ QUARTZOFELDSPATHIC 18 OED2000+ RADIOCINEANGIOCARDIOGRAPHY 26 OLMD RADIOELECTROPHYSIOLOGRAPHY 26 OLMD RADIOIMMUNOELECTROPHORESIS 26 Dorland RADIOIMMUNOPRECIPITATION 24 MWUD RHOMBIDODECADODECAHEDRON 24 Weisstein RHEUMOLYMPHOKERATODITIS 23 OED2000+ ROENTGENKYMOGRAPHICALLY 23 OED2000+ REINSTITUTIONALIZATION 22 OED2000+ RETICULOENDOTHELIOSIS 21 OED2000+ RADIOIMMUNOLOGICALLY 20 OED2000+ SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS 34 OED2000+ SUPERCALAFAJALISTICKESPEEALADOJUS 33 OED2000+ SPECTROPHOTOFLUOROMETRICALLY 28 OED2000+ SPECTROHELIOKINEMATOGRAPHS 26 MWUD SYNGENESIOTRANSPLANTATIONS 26 MWUD STEREOENCEPHALOSCOPICALLY 25 OED2000+ STILBENYLOXYALKYLCARBONYL 25 OED2000+ SALICYLAZOSULPHAPYRIDINE 24 OED2000+ SPECTROPHOTOFLUOROMETRIC 24 OED2000+ SULPHADIMETHYLPYRIMIDINE 24 OED2000+ TETRAMETHYLDIAMINOBENZHYDRYLPHOSPHINOUS 39 OED2000+ TETRACHLOROTETRABROMOFLUORESCEIN 32 OED2000+ TETRAHYDROPARAMETHOXYQUINOLINE 30 OED2000+ TETRAMETHYLDIAMINOBENZOPHENONE 30 OED2000+ TRINITROPHENYLMETHYLNITRAMINES 30 MWUD TETRACHLORODIBENZOPARADIOXINE 29 OED2000+ TETRAETHYLDIAMINOBENZOPHENONE 29 OED2000+ TRIETHYLSULPHONEMETHYLMETHANE 29 OED2000+ TETRAACETYLGALACTOSEPTANOSES 29 OED2000+ TETRACHLORODIBENZOPARADIOXIN 29 OED2000+ URETEROTRIGONOENTEROSTOMY 25 OLMD UVULOPALATOPHARYNGOPLASTY 25 Dorland UNDECAMETHYLMALTOTRIOSE 23 OED2000+ UNDISTINGUISHABLENESSES 23 MWUD UNCONSTITUTIONALITIES 21 MWUD UNDEMONSTRATIVENESSES 21 MWUD UNDERCHARACTERIZATION 21 OED2000+ UNEXCEPTIONABLENESSES 21 MWUD ULTRADOLICHOCEPHALIC 20 OED2000+ ULTRAMICROSCOPICALLY 20 OED2000+ VENTRICULOCISTERNOSTOMIES 23 MWUD VENTRICULOMASTOIDOSTOMY 23 OLMD VENTRICULOATRIOSTOMIES 22 MWUD VERATROYLCINCHOMERONIC 22 OED2000+ VENTRICULOPERITONEAL 20 MWUD VENTRONUDIBRANCHIATE 20 OED2000+ VICECHANCELLORSHIPPE 20 OED2000+ VICISSITUDINARIOUSLY 20 OED2000+ VECTORCARDIOGRAPHIC 19 MWUD VELOCIPEDESTRIANISM 19 OED2000+ WHITSUNGILLIFLOWERS 19 OED2000+ WASHINGTONOLOGISTS 18 OED2000+ WEATHERPROOFNESSES 18 MWUD WIDEAWAKEATIVENESS 18 OED2000+ WITHSTANDINGNESSES 18 MWUD WARMHEARTEDNESSES 17 MWUD WARRANTABLENESSES 17 MWUD WEBERBAUEROCEREUS 17 Wikipedia WITHDRAWINGNESSES 17 MWUD WORDSWORTHIANISMS 17 MWUD XANTHOPURPURINCARBOXYLIC 24 OED2000+ XENYLENEDIHYDROPYRAZINE 23 OED2000+ XIPHOOMPHALOISCHIOPAGUS 23 Dorland XANTHOERYTHRODERMIA 19 Dorland XANTHOGRANULOMATOUS 19 OED2000+ XENODOCHEIONOLOGIES 19 MWUD XENOTRANSPLANTATION 19 OED2000+ XERORADIOGRAPHIES 17 MWUD XANTHOCREATININE 16 OED2000+ XANTHORHAMNETINE 16 OED2000+ YETNOTWITHSTANDING 18 OED2000+ YANKEEDOODLEDODOM 17 OED2000+ YANGCHUANOSAURUS 16 OED2000+ YANKEEDOODLEISMS 16 OED2000+ YLSULPHANILAMIDE 16 OED2000+ YOUTHSPLOITATION’ 16 OED2000+ YELLOWSLOBBERED 15 OED2000+ YESTERDAYNESSES 15 MWUD YOKOSHIHOGATAME 15 OED2000+ YTTROPYROCHLORE 15 OED2000+ ZYGOMATICOAURICULARIS 21 MWUD ZYGOMATICOMAXILLARY 19 Dorland ZENZIZENZIZENZIKES 18 OED2000+ ZOOSPORANGIOPHORES 18 OED2000+ ZOOPHARMACOLOGICAL 18 MWUD ZYGOMATICOSPHENOID 18 Dorland ZYGOMATICOTEMPORAL 18 Dorland ZINCODIETHOXALATE 17 OED2000+ ZOOARCHAEOLOGISTS 17 OED2000+ ZOOGEOGRAPHICALLY 17 MWUD

LONG WORDS (OTHER LANGUAGES)

In French, ANTICONSTITUTIONNELLEMENT is the longest official word [Jacques Raymond Kilchoër].

In Lithuanian, NEBEPASIKISKIAKOPUSTELIAUJANCIUOSIUOSE (38 letters) is possibly the longest word that can be formed according to legal grammatical rules (so it can't be regarded as completely coined). It means "in those, of masculine gender, who aren't gathering wood sorrel by themselves anymore." The meaning is obscure but possible, e.g. in a fairy tale about hares: "A terrible hunger arose in the [long word] hares" [Juozas Rimas].

Vilius Puidokas provides a slightly longer version of this Lithuanian word: NEBEPRISIKISKIAKOPUSTELIAUJANCIUOSIUOSE (39 letters), meaning "in those, of masculine gender, who aren't gathering enough wood sorrel by themselves anymore." He says the fairy tale use could be the same.

Andrius Stasauskas provides an even longer version of the word: NEBEPRISIKISKIAKOPUSTLAPIAUJANCIUOSIUOSE (40 letters), meaning "in those, of masculine gender, who aren't gathering enough wood sorrel's leaves by themselves anymore." He reports that the word will appear in his upcoming book about the lives of ants, Ridas. Kankorezis (in English, Rid. The Cone).

In Matsigenka (also spelled Machiguenga), IRAPUSATINKAATSEMPOKITASANOIGAVETAPAAKEMPAROROKARITYO is the longest word. It means: They will probably really go head over heels into the water when they arrive but not stay that way [Pierre Abbat].

In Portuguese, INCONSTITUCIONALISSIMAMENTE (27 letters) is the longest word. It means "very unconstitutionally" [Carlos Andre Branco].

In Croatian, PRIJESTOLONASLIJEDNIKOVICA (26 letters) is a word meaning "the wife of a heir to the throne" [Vjekoslav Babic].

In Russian, the longest word is RYENTGYENOELYEKTROKARDIOGRAFICHYESKOGO (33 Cyrillic letters, 38 Roman), "of the X-ray electrocardiographic," according to 1996 Guinness. According to Ilya Morozov, the longest Russian common noun is VODOGRYAZETORPHOPARAPHINOLECHENIE (29 Cyrillic, 33 Roman). It means "a medical treatment with use of water, ooze, peat and paraffin." Another long Russian word is ZAGIPNOTIZIROVAVSHEMUSYA (22 letters), meaning "to him who has hypnotized himself" [Pierre Abbat]. Regarding this word, Ilya Morozov writes, "This is a verbal adverb, not a noun. It is very important: in the overwhelming majority of Russian word-puzzles only nouns can be used. Therefore, most Russian computer programs for word searching contain only noun lists."

In Turkish, ÇEKOSLOVAKYALILASTIRAMADIKLARIMIZDANMISINIZ (43 letters, 18 syllables) is usually cited as the longest word. It translates as "are you one of the people whom we couldn't Czechoslovakianize (i.e. make into a Czechoslovakian)"? However, the last seven letters are usually printed as a separate word [Edward Sawyer].

The following discussion on long Turkish words is from Fatih Aygün: In Turkish Çekoslavakyalilastiramadiklarimizdan miymissiniz (47) is traditonaly cited as the longest Turkish word, but the last 11 letters are written separately. It is counted as a single word because the separate part is a suffix. The word means "Were you amongst the ones that we couldn't make a Czechoslovakia citizen?" If we want a word without spaces, we have Çekoslavakyalilastiramadiklarimizdanmissiniz (44). That means "apparently you were amongst the ones that we couldn't make a Czechoslovakia citizen." But there are longer place names than Çekoslavakya. Afyonkarahisar, a province of Turkey, is the first I came up with. Afyonkarahisarlilastiramadiklarimizdanmissiniz (46) has a similar meaning, just replace Czechoslovakia with Afyonkarahisar. In fact, the conjugation template can be a bit more complicated. Afyonkarahisarlilastiramayabileceklerimizdenmissiniz (52) means "apparently you may be amongst the ones that we will not be able to make a Afyonkarahisar citizen." The longest unconjugated word in the TDK dictionary (TDK = Turkish Language Foundation, official regulator of the Turkish language) is elektroansefalografi (20), which means "electroencephalography." So we can invent a longer conjugated word: elektroansefalografililestiremeyebileceklerimizdenmissiniz (58), which means "apparently you may be amongst the ones that we will not be able to make have an electroencephalography." I systematically searched the online version of the TDK dictionary and conjugation suffixes. So I think that a longer word cannot be invented unless a longer word stem is invented.

NAJNEOBHOSPODAROVAVATELNEJSIEHO (31 letters) is the longest Slovak word, according to Miroslav Sedivy, who reports it means "of the less cultivable" (about a field).

According to Jacek Drobnik, the longest real word in Polish, which is neither an intentionally mounted oddity nor a surname nor a chemical name, is NAJCHARAKTERYSTYCZNIEJSZEGO, the genitive form of the adjective "the most characterisitc," meaning "of the most characteristic" (27 letters).

However, according to Michal Marcin Wozniak the longest word in Polish is konstantynopolitańczykówianeczka (32 characters). It is the diminutive of the word "konstantynoplitańczykówianka." The second one means: "an unmarried daughter of a man living in Constantinople."

According to Martin Vancura, the longest word in Czech officially is nejneobhospodařovávatelnějšími, which is instrumental case, plural form of “the less cultivable” (quite similar to the Slovak version above). A longer word, however is nejnezdevětadevadesáteronásobitelnějšími, the instrumental case of plural of “the less multipliable by ninety nine.” He writes, “Unfortunately, I must confess, the word does not belong among the most used part of Czech vocabulary but it is absolutely grammaticaly correct and still there are contextual situations where it can be appropriately employed.”

According to 1996 Guinness, the longest Dutch word is KINDERCARNAVALSOPTOCHTVOORBEREIDINGSWERKZAAMHEDEN (49 letters, preparation activities for a children's carnival procession," or literally, "for children Carnival procession preparation activities"). ZANDZEEPSODEMINERAALWATERSTEENSTRALEN (37 letters, to "take a hike" or to "p*** off") appeared in a book by Herman Brusselmans, a (Flemish) Belgian writer, who writes in Dutch. There is also WAPENSTILSTANDSONDERHANDELINGEN (31 letters, "cease-fire negotions" or "truce negotiations") [Richard Eisenberger, John Slegers, René Davids].

Philip Bennett writes, "The longest (non-hyphenated) Gaelic word I know of is BEARRADAIREACHD (15 letters), which means 'clipping, shaving or pruning.' The longest (hyphenated) Gaelic word I know of is CRUIMH-SHIONNACHAIN (18 letters), which is 'a glowworm.'"

According to a reader of this page, the longest word in Malay (called "Bahasa Melayu" in Malay) may be DIKETIDAKNYAHCASDIVERSIFIKASIELEKTROSTATIKKAN (45 letters), which means "has been undiversified of uncharged electrostatic electricity." There are also MENYETIDAKNYAHCASDIVERSIFIKASIELEKTROSTATIKKAN (46 letters), meaning "to undiversify uncharged electrostatic electricity" and PENYETIDAKNYAHCASDIVERSIFIKASIELEKTROSTATIKKAN (46 letters) meaning, "the process of undiversifiying uncharged electrostatic electricity." However, the latter two are no longer the widely used spellings.

In Japanese, the longest word is CHI-N-CHI-KU-RI-N (12 letters) a very short person (slang), according to 1996 Guinness. However, Ben Rudiak-Gould writes, "I can't imagine why they'd think this. Right off the top of my head, BUTSURIGAKUSHA (physicist) is both longer and more commonly used. A look in the dictionary turned up OSHITSUKEGAMASHIKATTA (was forceful), which has the added virtue of being a native yamato word (as opposed to a Chinese loanword). If you're allowed to use implausibly complex verb conjugations, you can get things like UKETAMAWARASERARETAKATTA ("I wish I had been allowed to hear of it"). These weren't the result of any kind of systematic search. A native speaker could probably come up with better examples."

The 1996 Guinness also has: "Patent applications sometimes harbor long compound words. An extreme example is one of 13 kana (Japanese syllabary), which transliterates to the 40-letter KYUKITSUROHEKIMENFUCHAKUNENRYOSEKISANRYO meaning 'the accumulated amount of fuel condensed on the wall face of the air intake passage.'"

According to Takasugi Shinji, the longest native Japanese word is ryûgûnootohimenomotoyuinokirihazushi. Ben Rudiak-Gould writes, "It's not always clear what constitutes a word in Japanese, but I'm not convinced this qualifies. It's the name of a plant (eelgrass), and like other plant names it's often written in katakana, which makes it look like a single word. But it's really a multi-word phrase, ryuuguu no otohime no motoyui no kirihazushi, which means something like 'clippings of the hair-cord of the princess of the Dragon Palace' (said princess being an ocean-dwelling character from Japanese folklore)." Takasugi Shinji disagrees with this. He writes, "A reliable online Japanese dictionary says it is the longest plant name. A species name is a compound word, not a phrase consisting of several words, because it cannot be divided or reordered. Grammatically speaking, "forget-me-not" is a single word, so is "baby's breath." English speakers usually don't treat them as single words just because of hyphenation and spacing."

In Icelandic, the longest word is HÆSTARÉTTARMÁLAFLUTNINGSMAÐUR (29 letters, "Supreme Court barrister"). However, this web page gives a much longer possible word.

In Hungarian, the longest word is megszentségteleníthetetlenségeskedéseitekért (44 letters), according to the 1996 Guinness. A translation is "for your constant mentioning of the fact that [a particular thing] is unprofanable."

Ádám Szegi writes, "Since the publication of the above word, a new invention has been made. The basic word was modified and extended to another direction, leading to: legeslegmegszentségteleníttethetetlenebbeiteknek which means: "to those of you who can the very least be made profanized." This may be the current record in Hungarian with its 48 letters. This is not used in everyday Hungarian, of course. But there is another snake of word: változásbejelentésikérelem-benyújtási [kötelezettség] -- 37 letters which means: [obligation] "of filing an application to register a change" [of address etc.] This may occur in formal documents (though people usually don't dare to write down such a long word in one and will probably separate it with some spaces "to look better"). In theory, according to the orthography, this is a perfectly correct form, though they advise to possibly paraphrase expressions like that."

In Mohawk, the longest word is TKANUHSTASRIHSANUHWE'TSRAAKSAHSRAKARATATTSRAYERI' (50 letters), "the praising of the evil of the liking of the finding of the house is right," according to 1996 Guinness.

According to Johan Sydseter, the longest Norwegian word is Minoritetsbærerdiffusjonskoeffisientsmålingsapparatur (53 letters), "device for measuring the distance between atoms in crystalised substances." These Norwegian words have 27 letters: ARBEIDSTAKERORGANISASJONENE, KORREKTURLESINGSPROGRAMMENE, STATSTJENESTEMANNSKARTELLET, UNDERVISNINGSORGANISASJONER, and FOLKESUVERENITETSPRINSIPPET.

However, Paul Cooper writes, "The longest German word, quoted as Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitaetenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengessellschaft, has the statement appended to it, that it can be spelled Donaudampfschifffahrtselektrizitaetenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengessellschaft is wrong. The reform of the German language is only accepted by one Dictionary (Duden) and the spelling rules are now ignored by the government and all major newspapers, therefore the fff is likely to be incorrect."

He also writes, "There is another long word in German, although its real status as a word cannot be correctly confirmed. The word is "Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaftskapitaensfrauenverbandsvorsitzendenaufwandsentschaedigungsrahmenordnungsrichtlinienen" 119 and loosely means "The Danube Steam Navigation Company's Captain's wives federation for basic remuneration expenditure guidelines." It can also be spelled under the new spelling rules as "Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaftskapitaensfrauenverbandsvorsitzendenaufwandsentschaedigungsrahmenordnungsrichtlinienen" with 120 letters.

Hwever Peter Wyss writes, "The Danube Steam Navigation Company's Captain's wives federation for basic remuneration expenditure guidelines can also be spelled under the new spelling rules as "Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaftskapitaensfrauenverbandsvorsitzendenaufwandsentschaedigungsrahmenordnungsrichtlinienen" with 120 letters. The last two letters should not be there. It should say 'Linien' not 'Linienen.'"

Dave Pawson writes:

Actually, Ausserordentlichhochgeschwindigkeitelectronenentwickelndesschwerarbeitsbeigollitron should be Ausserordentlichhochgeschwindigkeitselectronenentwickelndesschwerarbeitsbeigollitron, as the feminine ending -keit takes an -s when in combination form. So Time blew it again, I guess? I would also point to the game of "Nominalisieren" or "noun-making" which I used to play with my German friends. Players take turns adding a suffix to an ever-growing word, repeating the entire word each time before adding their own part. Players may not modify the previous word except as required by the rules of the German language, ie adding the -s to -keit or -ung endings before proceeding with the next added word. Each play must result in a complete word, for instance: Papier (paper)

Papierkorb (wastepaper basket)

Papierkorbgesellschaft (waste paper basket company)

Papierkorbgesellchaftspräsident (waste paper basket company president)

Papierkorbgesellchaftspräsidentenbüro (waste paper basket company president's office)

Papierkorbgesellschaftspräsidentenbüroteppich (waste paper basket company president's office carpet) As you can see, I am already at 45 letters, and could still go on with the waste paper basket company president's office carpet cleaners' uniform dry-cleaning corporation's hanger or some such foolishness. Of course, words such as these would be extremely rarely used and would not be found in any dictionary, but according to the rules of German, would be perfectly valid!

According to Guinness, in German the longest dictionary word in everday usage is RECHTSSCHUTZVERSICHERUNGSGESELLSCHAFTEN (39 letters), "insurance companies which provide legal protection."

A reader of this page writes, "There is no real 'longest word' in German, as speakers may make up grammatically correct words when needed." Steven Van Gemert writes, "I agree with this, and can give a somewhat specific example. When numbers are written in German, the individual words are concatenated together. Thus, the longest word would be the written form of an extremely large number. Considering that numbers can be infinitely large, then the largest word should theoretically have no limit. However, I am unsure as to whether there are even terms coined for such large numbers. For instance, in English you have "million", "billion", "trillion" and "quadrillion" (interpreted differently in America, yes, but all the same). If you were to think of a term to describe a number higher than that (even up to a "Googol" for instance), then I could ask you to name the term that is a thousand times the number you named. Eventually I think we would run out of terms to name the numbers with. Therefore, the longest word in German could theoretically be found with a little research since there would be a finite number of defined terms to describe the numbers. Unless of course you simply use "tausendtausendtausend" to indicate a thousand times a thousand times a thousand and so on. In which case I should like to submit that the longest German word would start with "siebentausendtausendtausendtausend...". :)"

In July 2006 another reader of this page writes:

Unfortunately, I consider some of the claims about the German language as dubious, at best. Firstly, anything starting with "Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaft" tells every German, here we have another go at "long word." No one would take them seriously, and I've seen quite a few longer ones than the ones you've mentioned. About the spellig reform in German, thus "Donaudampschiffahrt" vs "Donaudampfschifffahrt": I have no idea how your correspondent Paul Cooper came to this conclusion: "The reform of the German language is only accepted by one Dictionary (Duden) and the spelling rules are now ignored by the government and all major newspapers, therefore the fff is likely to be incorrect." The reformed spelling is "accepted" by all major dictionaries, and it is taught for quite a few years now. The old style of writing is admittedly still used by the major weekly news magazine (Der Spiegel), the major tabloid (Bild) and the major "regular newspaper" (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung). This of course is legal, since spelling has no legal standing as a law. Still, the government as well as schools use the reformed spelling. So "fff" should be considered correct, even if you consider the old spelling the standard. Even more so, since the rule change responsible for this is one of only a very few that are actually not opposed by those opposing the new spelling, but which was acclaimed by all sides to be a very sensible change (before: when you had three same consonants in a row due to glueing words together, it would be written with three consonants if the next letter was a consonant as well "Balletttheater", but only with two, when the next letter was a vowel "Schiffahrt". Now it's 3 letters regardless.) and is used this way even by those who oppose the reform in general. Then again, "Donaudampfschiffahrts(...)gesellschaft" (please note: only 1 "s" in "gesellschaft") would be a proper name of a company, to which normal spelling rules would not apply at all. They could decide to change their name in such a situation, or to let it stay the same. If it weren't that all these "Gesellschaften" are entirely fictional. About German numbers: Those are not formed as claimed on your page. Up to a million, this is correct: 724537 would be "Siebenhundertvierundzwanzigtausendfünfhundertsiebenunddreißig" but millions and higher values are not glued on, but rather separated: 157063724537 would become "Einhundertsiebenundfünfzig Milliarden dreiundsechzig Millionen Siebenhundertvierundzwanzigtausendfünfhundertsiebenunddreißig". And putting "tausend" in any place you like wouldn't work, eeither. And yes, Germans can form words as long as they like to. So we had the Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz as an actually suggested law (see German wikipedia). But we do not like that too much, the title of the law was changed, though it makes perfect sense to any German (after some digging through the word, it's not like we do this every day to this extent): "Law concerning how to assign the supervisional duties for labelling of beef products".

A 2013 news story by Jeevan Vasagar:

In theory, a German word can be infinitely long. Germany's longest word - RINDFLEISCH-ETIKETTIERUNGSUBERWACHUNGSAUFGABEN-UBERTRAGUNGSGESETZ, the title of a law about beef - has ceased to exist. The word, which refers to the "law for the delegation of monitoring beef labelling", has been repealed by a regional parliament after the EU lifted a recommendation to carry out BSE tests on healthy cattle. The law was considered a legitimate word because it appeared in official texts. But it never actually appeared in dictionaries - compilers of the standard German dictionary Duden judge words for inclusion based on their frequency of use. In theory, a German word can be infinitely long. Unlike English, an extra concept can simply be added to the existing word indefinitely. At 80 letters, the longest Germon word ever composed is DONAUDAMPFSCHIFFFAHRTSELEKTRIZITATENHAUPTBETRIEBSWERKBAUUNTERBEAMTENGESELLSCHAFT, the "Association for Subordinate Officials of the Head Office Management of the Danube Steamboat Electrical Services".

An interesting web page about long German words is at http://mentalfloss.com/article/54048/heres-how-crazy-long-german-words-are-made.

According to Ville Koskivaara, the longest word in Finnish is epäjärjestelmällistyttämättömyydellänsäkään, which he says means roughly "even with its quality of not being possible to be made irrational." Tuomas Rannikko suggests the alternate translation "not even when taking into account his/her/its way/ability/tendency of not disorganizing." He also writes, "I have also seen alternative spelling of epäjärjestelmällistyttämättömyydelläänsäkään, but I cannot discern which is correct (Or they both might just as well be correct.) While AFAIK it is the longest non-compound (a single word, not a word made by concatenating many words together) word in Finnish language it's not the longest word. Compound words can be longer, and of course medical terms (which I hardly consider words in any given language, except for medical language itself) are long and also used throughout the world, regardless of the language they're wrapped into. The longest compound Finnish word I can think of right now is kaksitariffikolmivaihevaihtovirtakilowattituntimittari which is something along the lines of "dual-tariff tri-stage AC kWh meter" Then, if one adds a similar ending to the word as with the epäjärjestelmällistyttää, it would become kaksitariffikolmivaihevaihtovirtakilowattituntimittarillaansakaan which is 'not even with his/her/its dual-tariff ...'"

Ville Koskivaara writes, "The spelling epäjärjestelmällistyttämättömyydelläänsäkään suggested by Tuomas Rannikko is incorrect. One can say a) epäjärjestelmällistyttämättömyydellään or b) epäjärjestelmällistyttämättömyydellänsä, but one can never say c) epäjärjestelmällistyttämättömyydelläänsä. The options a) and b) mean the same thing, option c) does not exist in Finnish."

Charles Turner believes the longest word in Nahuatl (Aztec) is MIHUIITTILMOYOCCUITLANTONPICIXOCHITL (37 letters).

According to Fotis Papanicolaou, in Greek, two long words in common use are SKOULIKOFAGOMIRMIGOTRIPA (an ant eating worm's lair) and LEMONOPORTOKALOMANTARINOFLOUDA (citrus fruit skin). However, Tsompanidis Vassilis writes, "These two are made-up words that do not actually mean anything. They are only used as examples of long words. For example the second one 'means' "skin of a lemon-orange-sanguine.'"

In 1950, Time magazine printed the following suggested correction in its letters column:

Shouldn't Ausserordentlichhochgeschwindigkeitelectronenentwickelndesschwerabeitsbeigollitron [Time, March 13] read Ausserordentlichhochgeschwindigkeitelectronenentwickelndesschwerarbeitsbeigollitron? (Rev.) T.M. Hesburgh

C.S.C.

Notre Dame, Ind.

Yes, as Time's Los Angeles and Philadelphia (but not Chicago) printers had it.—Ed.

SMILES is supposed to be the longest word in the dictionary because “there's a mile between the two S's.”

A reader of this page writes, “On that basis, BELEAGUERED is longer as it has a league—which is 3 miles—between the start and end!”

According to Red Skelton, the longest word is the word that follows the announcement, “And now a word from our sponsor”!