Longest Words in the English Language



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longest_word_in_English

The identity of the longest word in English depends upon the definition of what constitutes a "word" in the English language, as well as how "length" should be compared. In addition to words derived naturally from the language's roots (without any known intentional invention), English allows new words to be formed by coinage and construction; place names may be considered words; technical terms may be arbitrarily long. Length may be understood in terms of orthography and number of written letters, or (less commonly) phonology and the number of phonemes.

Word Letters Characteristics Dispute
Methionylthreonylthreonyl...isoleucine 189,819 Chemical name of the largest known protein Technical; not in dictionary; disputed whether it is a word
Lopado...pterygon 183 Longest word coined by a major author[1] Coined; not in dictionary; Greek transliteration
Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis 45 Longest word in a major dictionary[2] Technical; coined to be the longest word
Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism 30 Longest non-coined word in a major dictionary[3] Technical
Floccinaucinihilipilification 29 Longest nontechnical word Coined
Antidisestablishmentarianism 28 Longest non-coined and nontechnical word
Honorificabilitudinitatibus 27 Longest word in Shakespeare's works

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