pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
English
Alternative forms
- pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis
- pneumonultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
Etymology
Etymology tree
English ultra-
English microscope
English microscopic
English silico-
English volcano
English coniosis
English pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
Coined by Everett K Smith, President of the National Puzzlers' League, at their convention in 1935 as a deliberately long word. From pneumono- (“lung”) + ultra- (“beyond”) + microscopic + silico- + volcano + coniosis (“dust”), as an extension of the medical term pneumonoconiosis.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /njuːˌmɒ.nəʊ.ʌl.tɹə.maɪ.kɹəʊˈskɒ.pɪkˌsɪ.lɪ.kəʊ.vɒl.keɪ.nəʊ.kəʊ.niˈəʊ.sɪs/;[1]
- (General American) enPR: no͞o-män'ō-ŭl-trə-mī-krə-skäpʹĭk-sĭl'ē-kō-väl-kā-nō-kō-nē-ōʹsĭs, IPA(key): /nuˌmɑ.noʊ.ʌl.tɹə.maɪ.kɹoʊˈskɑ.pɪkˌsɪ.lɪ.koʊ.vɑl.keɪ.noʊ.koʊ.niˈoʊ.sɪs/;
Audio (US): (file) - Rhymes: -əʊsɪs
- Hyphenation: pneu‧mo‧no‧ul‧tra‧mi‧cro‧sco‧pic‧si‧li‧co‧vol‧ca‧no‧co‧ni‧o‧sis
Noun
pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (uncountable)
- (nonce word) A disease of the lungs, allegedly caused by inhaling microscopic silicate particles originating from the eruption of a volcano.
- 1980 March, Lorin E. Kerr, “Black Lung”, in Journal of Public Health Policy, volume 1, number 1, →JSTOR, page 50:
- Call it miner's asthma, silicosis, pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, coal workers' pneumoconiosis, or black lung—they are all dust diseases with the same symptoms.
- 2011 April 28, Kurt D. Stradtman, Am I the Person My Mother Warned Me About?: A Four-year College Experience ... Only the Good Parts, Xlibris, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 90:
- I still can't watch House M.D. and not have my mind wonder […] Even I can fear of[sic] having Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis after watching it.
- 2017 July 31, Michael Bryan, quotee, “Boy, 16, uses 'longest word' in Parliament”, in BBC News[3], archived from the original on 2017-08-03:
- Regarding the lack of funding and attention do you agree that there should be parity of esteem between mental conditions such as body dysmorphia and physical conditions such as pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.
Usage notes
- This word was invented purely to be a contender for the title of the longest word in the English language, comprising forty-five letters and nineteen syllables. The word is not in official medical usage, and textbooks refer to this disease as pneumonoconiosis, pneumoconiosis, or silicosis.
- Cited as the longest word in the Oxford English Dictionary, the dictionary lists it as “a factitious word alleged to mean ‘a lung disease caused by inhalation of very fine silica dust usually found in volcanos’ but occurring chiefly as an instance of a very long word”.[1]
Quotations
For more quotations using this term, see Citations:pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.
Hypernyms
Coordinate terms
Translations
disease of the lungs
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References
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Hellenic
- English terms derived from Italian
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- English terms derived from Old Latin
- English terms prefixed with pneumono-
- English terms prefixed with ultra-
- English terms prefixed with silico-
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- Rhymes:English/əʊsɪs
- Rhymes:English/əʊsɪs/19 syllables
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- en:Diseases