What is the longest word in the English language?

Question

Just curious. Not supercalifragi... not the Mary Poppins one.

Answer 1

Acetylseryltyrosylseryliso...serine
1185 letters
the longest word in an English language publication in a serious context
Technical

Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu
85 letters
the longest officially recognized place name in an English-speaking country
Place name

Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
45 letters
longest word in any of the major English language dictionaries including the OED was originally intended as a hoax

Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism 30 letters - Technical
Floccinaucinihilipilification
29 letters
Longest nontechnical word

Answer 2

We do have genuine (if rather obviously deliberate) examples in our files of antidisestablishmentarianism (28 letters) and floccinaucinihilipilification (29 letters), which are listed in some of our larger dictionaries. Other words (mainly technical ones) recorded in the complete Oxford English Dictionary include:

otorhinolaryngological (22 letters),
immunoelectrophoretically (25 letters),
psychophysicotherapeutics (25 letters),
thyroparathyroidectomized (25 letters),
pneumoencephalographically (26 letters),
radioimmunoelectrophoresis (26 letters),
psychoneuroendocrinological (27 letters)
hepaticocholangiogastrostomy (28 letters),
spectrophotofluorometrically (28 letters),
pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism (30 letters).



www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutwords/longestword

Answer 3

No such thing as "the longest word" in English, because most "long" words were a combination of other foreign languages when they were coined. Most of what people posted are either made up (conlangs or constructed languages) or are chemical or medical terms, which mostly are either made up of words of either Greek or Latin origin.

Answer 4

The longest official word ever (1,913 letters) is the term for the formula:

C1289H2051N343O375S8

This site won't accept the word, so see the link:

http://www.englishforums.com/English/LongestWordDictionaryRepeatedLetter/5/crrl/Post.htm

Answer 5

Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis..
( New-mon-o-ultra-microscopic-sili-co-volcano-con-ee-o-sis )

( I say it all the time )

It's apparently, from my understanding, a lung disease caused by inhaling coal dust, or any essence of coal that is found in coal mines. So obviously, it's really only found in coal miners.


The short form is Pneumoconiosis.

Answer 6

Language!lol j/k

Answer 7

We learned this in Language class.... It is actually antidiestablishmenttarinism [spelling may me incorrect]. It means something about church or something. =] ♥

Answer 8

i do no its 42 letters

Answer 9

sorry i already opened it and that was my answer too late
supercalifragilisticexpialidoshius

Answer 10

antidisestablishmentarianism as far as i know, god knows what it means though