PNEUMONOULTRAMICROSCOPICSILICOVOLCANOCONIOSIS
Noun
A pneumoconiosis (lung disease) caused by inhalation of very fine silicate or quartz dust.
This is the longest word in the English dictionary (not including place names and chemical compounds). With 45 letters and 19 syllables, it is a bit of a mouthful!
The disease is also known as 'Black lung disease'.
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IC said...
That word was originally supposed to be a hoax before somebody turned it into a name for a disease. Still my favorite long word is Antidisestablishmentarianism which is the name of the movement to stop the church from losing it's status as the State Church of england, and it's a word that was not made up to be a long word just because.
May 19, 2007 at 5:22 PM
Julian said...
Nice word, very scientific and important sounding, maybe I should use it and sound intelligent. . . . . :-P
May 19, 2007 at 6:39 PM
Heather said...
I know it's a made up word, but it's in the dictionary.
May 19, 2007 at 7:48 PM