Art, obsession, and identity
The truly longest word in the world has no translation, and is the same across every language. Thankfully, it's a word only used in scientific communities, and chances are you won't need it in regular conversation. The protein usually referred to as "connectin" is the largest known protein, and following the rules of scientific notation, its official name includes all 26,926 of its amino acids. The full word consists of a mindboggling 189,819 letters.
In a cruel streak of irony, the word used to describe a phobia of long words is pretty lengthy! If you're a "hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobiac," this might not be the gallery for you.
Classifying words as, well, words, might seem like a simple task. When it comes to defining the world's longest words, however, the definition can get a little confusing. According to Merriam-Webster, a word must be commonly used and have a precedent for practical and sustained usage. This disqualifies common favorites like Mary Poppins's "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," and any words that find brief fame in a meme or internet trend.
A common contestant for the longest word in the English language is "antidisestablishmentarianism," but some critics say it's ineligible since it's not in common usage any more. The word was used in 19th-century England to describe a movement that was against the disestablishment of the Church of England.
The Dutch term for multiple personality disorder is long enough to make anyone feel a bit crazy. Try saying meervoudigepersoonlijkheidsstoornissen three times fast!
Much longer than antidisestablishmentarianism but just as rare in usual conversation, is the English term "pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis." Clocking in at a whopping 45 characters, this word describes a lung disease caused by inhaling extremely small particles like dust and ash.
Languages like Spanish aren't as prone to such excessively long words as German is, but esternocleidooccipitomastoideos, the word for certain muscles in the neck, is still a pretty formidable tongue twister.
Italian is known as a pretty quickly spoken language, but even the fastest speaker has to take their time pronouncing precipitevolissimevolmente, which is, ironically, a word for moving extremely fast.
As far as words that could actually be used in casual conversation, "incomprehensibilities" usually takes the cake for the longest word.
The German language is notorious for its impossibly long words, made possible by its status as an agglutinative language. Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz is the "law regulating the labeling of beef."
Defining words also has to do with how different languages construct themselves. Agglutinative languages, such as the Germanic language family to which English belongs, allow for theoretically limitless combinations of "morphemes," or language units that represent certain places, feelings, and descriptors. For that reason, words in agglutinative languages can basically be as long as the situation calls for. Most Latin and Romance languages, like Spanish and Italian, aren't agglutinative, and separate descriptors into different words, meaning their words can only be so long.
One of, if not the, longest words in the French language is anticonstitutionnellement, which is roughly translated to English as "unconstitutional."
Icelandic is an interesting and ancient language full of oddly specific words. Vaðlaheiðarvegavinnuverkfærageymsluskúraútidyralyklakippuhringur, for example, is "a keychain ring for the outdoor key to a road worker’s shed in a moor called Vaðlaheið."
The Dutch-derived Afrikaans language spoken in South Africa is notoriously confusing. This sense of confusion is no better exemplified than in the 136-character word Tweedehandsemotorverkoopsmannevakbondstakingsvergaderingsameroeperstoespraakskrywerspersverklaringuitreikingsmediakonferensieaankondiging, which is an "issuable media conference's announcement at a press release regarding the convener's speech at a secondhand car dealership union's strike meeting."
One of the longest words in the Finnish language isn't very well known outside of the military. Vastatykistömaalinosoitustutkakalustojärjestelmäinsinöörierikoisupseeri, a dizzying 71-character word, refers to a "counter-artillery targeting radar systems engineer specialist officer."
The Native American Ojibwe language uses an impossibly long name for one of life's simplest and sweetest joys: blueberry pie. Or, as they say in Ojibwe, miinibaashkiminasiganibiitoosijiganibadagwiingweshiganibakwezhigan.
There is a word in Tagalog that is used to describe the act of lying that causes extreme and long-lasting rage. Unfortunately, the word itself might cause many people to get pretty angry trying to pronounce it. The 59-letter long word is: Pinakanakakapagngitngitngitngitang-pagsisinungasinungalingan.
The quaint Welsh town of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is famous for its name. Understandably, virtually no one besides the people who live there have any idea how to pronounce it.
"أَفَإِستَسقَينَاكُمُوها" is one of the longest words in the Arabic language, and communicates an entire thought: "Did we ask you to let us drink it?"
Greek is a unique language that proves tough to grasp. One of the longest words actually used in Greece today is Ηλεκτροεγκεφαλογράφημα, which translates to "electroencephalogram" in English.
Every specialist doctor getting their footing in Denmark goes through speciallægepraksisplanlægningsstabiliseringsperiode, a "a period of stabilizing the planning of a specialist doctor's practice."
Prijestolonasljednikovičičinima takes the cake as the longest word in the Croatian language. It means "to those who belong to the throne successor's little wife."
In Hindi, "लौहपथगामिनीसूचकदर्शकहरितताम्रलौहपट्टिका" refers to a very specific type of railroad sign: "a green railway warning signboard made of copper-iron."
The longest word from all of Greece's history is considerably longer, and was coined by one of the greatest storytellers in history: Aristophanes. The ancient Greek playwright made the word up for a play and described a fictional meal, a mixture of meat and fish. Read on if you dare: Lopadotemachoselachogaleokranioleipsanodrimhypotrimmatosilphiokarabomelitokatakechymenokichlepikossyphophattoperisteralektryonoptekephalliokigklopeleiolagoiosiraiobaphetraganopterygon.
There once was a time where no self-respecting Lithuanian man would ever want to be labeled a nebeprisikiškiakopūstlapiaujančiuosiuose. It means, "those, of masculine gender, who aren't gathering enough wood sorrel's leaves by themselves anymore."
The longest word in Hebrew, וכשבהשתעשעויותיהם, has a pretty light and sunny meaning. It means "and while they were having fun..."
Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu is a small hill in New Zealand with cultural significance to the indigenous Māori people. You better hope you never need to ask for directions on your way there!
The longest word in the Indonesian language is a whopping 22 characters longer, and it means "to take responsibility." That word is: Mempertanggungjawabkan.
The Irish word for photography is a bit of a tongue twister, but is commonly used by anyone talking about the artform in Irish: Grianghrafadóireacht.
If you think about it, words are perhaps the single greatest invention of mankind. Language has separated us from most other animals, and has allowed us to not only transmit information in an efficient way, but has also opened up an infinitely vast world of creative expression. We can all agree, however, that language isn't always a walk in the park.
Sometimes we can't find the right words for what we want to say, and other times the words available to us are impossibly long and complex. We've all heard "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," and we all know it's not exactly a 'real' word. So what are they longest words in the world, and how could we ever possibly use them? Read on to find out.
The longest words in the world, and what they mean
Looking beyond "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious"
LIFESTYLE Language
If you think about it, words are perhaps the single greatest invention of mankind. Language has separated us from most other animals, and has allowed us to not only transmit information in an efficient way, but has also opened up an infinitely vast world of creative expression. We can all agree, however, that language isn't always a walk in the park.
Sometimes we can't find the right words for what we want to say, and other times the words available to us are impossibly long and complex. We've all heard "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," and we all know it's not exactly a 'real' word. So what are they longest words in the world, and how could we ever possibly use them? Read on to find out.