Are you familiar with the longest words in English? We’re betting you haven’t had a go at the official longest one though. We also won’t be mentioning it in this post since it’ll span roughly fifty-seven pages! The word we’re referring to is the chemical name for the titin protein found in humans. But did you know that dictionaries omit the name of this protein and many other long words? Obviously, dictionaries have space constraints, and the average person would have no need to know the technical names of chemicals. Still, there are plenty of lengthy words in dictionaries.
English is a very rich and creative language and it is no wonder that there are words in the language that are certified tongue twisters. This isn’t only because they are long. But also because the spelling and pronunciation require experience and expertise in the language. Here are the top 10 longest words in the English Language.
Countdown to the longest words in English
10. Honorificabilitudinitatibus
This 27-character word is found in Act V, Scene 1 of a Shakespeare play entitled Love’s Labour’s Lost. The word translates to Honorableness or invincible glorious.
9. Floccinauccinihilipilification
This word is 30 characters long. Despite its use of flocci, the plural of floccus and which means tufts of wooly hair or small, rounded tufts of clouds, the whole word is not a scientific term. Floccinauccinihilipilification means trifling, of little or no value or something that has been estimated to be valueless.
8. Hepaticocholangiocholecystenterostomies
This is a surgical term. The Gould’s Medical Dictionary defines hepaticocholangiocholecystenterostomy as the creation of a link or bridge between a hepatic duct and the gall bladder and between the gall bladder and the intestine to allow these organs to communicate. It is the longest word found in this medical dictionary.
7. Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
The word is a name for a type of lung disease. It’s the disease suffered by the African miners when they inhale silicon silvers. It is the same as coal miner’s disease that is caused by the particles of siliceous volcanic dust they inhale into their lungs.
6. Antipericatametaanaparcircumvolutiorectumgustpoops
This is the title of a book written by François Rabelais, a 15th century French Renaissance humanist, doctor, monk and writer. The book described the work of a giant named Gargantua and his son, Pantagruel.
5. Osseocaynisanguineoviscericartilagininervomedullary
The word is a scientific term related to anatomy. It is one of the words coined by author, Thomas Love Peacock and used in his first novel, Headlong Hall, published in 1816. It is actually a compound word created by combining together classic Greek and Latin terms for parts of the body.
4. Aequeosalinocalcalinoceraceoaluminoscupreovitriolic
This very long word with 51 characters was created by 18th century English medical writer, Dr. Edward Strother. He coined the word to describe the spa waters in Bath, a city in England.
3. Bababadalgharaghtakamminapronnkonnbronntonnepronnt-
uonnthunntrovarrhounawnskawntoohoohoordeenenthurnuk
This 101-character word is found in the novel, Finnegan’s Wake, written by Irish author, James Joyce and published in 1939. This is said to describe the sound of the thunderclap that signaled the fall of Adam and Eve.
2. Lopadotemachoselachogaleokranioleipsanodrimhypotrim-
matosilphiparaomelitokatakechymenokichlepikossyphophat-
toperisteralektryonoptekephalliokiglopeleiolagoiosiraiobaph-
etraganopterygon
This is a term that was used to describe the spicy foods that were cooked using remnants of beef and vegetables, a fictional dish mentioned in the comedy, Assemblywomen or Ecclesiazusae, written by ancient Greek comic playwright, Aristophanes around 392 B.C.
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Surely no other word can beat this 1,902-character word for a type of protein, which contains amino acids found in the DNA strand. Good thing it has a shortened form, connectin or titin. It is considered the longest word in the English language, according to the 18th edition of the Guinness Book of World Records.
English Language Fun Facts
Although we’ve covered the longest words in English, it’s always good to learn something new. Here’s a look at some quirky and fun facts about the language:
Ghost Word
From 1932 to 1940, due to an error, there was a ghost word in the dictionary that has no meaning. The word was dord.
Oldest Word
Town is the oldest word in the English language; strengths is the longest word with just a single vowel; dreamt is the only word that ends with mt, and I am is the shortest complete sentence in English.
Old English
Today we use dared as the past tense of the verb dare. Its archaic past tense was durst.
Rhymes
Can you name rhyming English words for angel, bulb, month, orange and silver?
Single Syllables
Screeched is the longest one syllable word, while bookkeeping and bookkeeper are the two words that consecutively have double letters (oo, kk, ee).
Not Just There
If you take a closer look at the word therein you will see that you can extract several words – the, there, he, her, here, ere, herein, in and rein from it without rearranging anything. Conventionally, you will get 25 meanings for the word set as a verb, 13 meanings as a noun, and 7 as an adjective. Set is also the name of an evil god in Ancient Egypt, who was the brother and murderer of Osiris, the god of the afterlife.