What is the longest word in English?

Question

What word in English has the most letters?

Answer 1

pneumono­ultra­micro­scopic­silico­volcano­coniosis

45 letters.

Answer 2

The longest word in any major English language dictionary is pneumono­ultra­micro­scopic­silico­volcano­coniosis, a 45-letter word supposed to refer to a lung disease, but research has discovered that this word was originally intended as a hoax. It has since been used in a close approximation of its originally intended meaning, lending at least some degree of validity to its claim.[1]

The Oxford English Dictionary contains pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism (30 letters).

The longest non-technical word is flocci­nauci­nihili­pili­fication at 29 letters. Consisting of a series of Latin words meaning "nothing" and defined as "the act of estimating something as worthless," its usage has been recorded as far back as 1741.[2][3][4] In recent times its usage has been recorded in the proceedings of the United States Senate by Senator Robert Byrd [5], and at the White House by Bill Clinton's press secretary Mike McCurry, albeit sarcastically.[6]

Anti­dis­establishment­arianism (a nineteenth century movement in England opposed to the separation of church and state) at 28 letters is still in colloquial currency for being one of the longest words in the English language.

The longest word which appears in William Shakespeare's works is the 27-letter honorific­abilitud­initatibus, appearing in Love's Labour's Lost. This is arguably an English word (rather than Latin), but only because it was Shakespeare who used it.

The humuhumu-nukunuku-a-pua‘a, or reef triggerfish, is Hawaii's official state fish.[7] At 22 letters (including the okina) it is one of the best known very long one-word names for an animal. It is occasionally quipped that the name is longer than the fish.

Although only fourteen letters long, sesquipedalian, deserves a mention. It is derived from a nonce word used by the Roman author Horace, in his work Ars Poetica (The Art of Poetry). The quote is as follows: "Proicit ampullas et sesquipedalia verba," which means, "He throws aside his paint pots and his words that are a foot and a half long." The Oxford English Dictionary lists sesquipedalianism ("the practice of using words one and a half feet long"), and further derivations can be created as described in the Constructions section below

Answer 3

i think that the word electrophotomicrographically is the second longest, with 28 letters, but the real word that is the longest and beats the first word by one letter is floccinaucinihilipilification which means :
the act of estimating (something) as worthless.
the word pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, is a 45-letter word supposed to mean a lung disease, butit was found that this word was meant to be a joke...so since that word is not real the first word is the right one...

and some one has asked that question before you can find it here:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060815175036AAav3mi

Answer 4

PNEUMONO­ULTRA­MICRO­SCOPIC­SILICO­VOLCANO­CONIOSIS (also spelled PNEUMONO­ULTRA­MICRO­SCOPIC­SILICO­VOLCANO­KONIOSIS) = a lung disease caused by breathing in particles of siliceous volcanic dust.
This is the longest word in any English dictionary. However, it was coined by Everett Smith, the President of The National Puzzlers' League, in 1935 purely for the purpose of inventing a new "longest word". The Oxford English Dictionary described the word as factitious. Nevertheless it also appears in the Webster's, Random House, and Chambers dictionaries.

Answer 5

___pneumonoultra microscopicsilico volcanoconiosis___(i just put spaces but it doesn't have) -45 letters


The word pneumono ultramicroscopicsilico volcanoconiosis (also spelled -koniosis) is defined as "a lung disease caused by the inhalation of very fine silica (sandlike) dust, mostly found in volcanoes". It was originally coined simply to serve as the longest English word, but has been used in several sources as an approximation of its originally intended definition. The name generally used to describe this condition is pneumoconiosis, which is much shorter.

Answer 6

Smiles because there is a mile between the first s and the last s

Answer 7

Yoda

Answer 8

Some will say 'Elastic' because it stretches but when it comes to being serious... There are loads of medical terms that never seem to end.

Answer 9

Supercalifragilisticics pyalidoshiousness

Answer 10

Mary G is the only one with the right answer so far - give her a thumbs up.