pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis

English

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcano-coniosis
• pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis
• P45

Etymology

Coined by Everett K Smith, President of the National Puzzlers’ League, at their convention in 1935, from Ancient Greek πνεύμων (pneumōn, “lung”) + Latin ultra (“beyond”) + English microscopic + silico- + volcano + Ancient Greek κόνις (konis, “dust”) + English -osis as an extension of the medical term pneumonoconiosis.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US, Northern California)

  (file)

Pronunciatory transcriptions and hyphenation

(RP): IPA: /njuːˌmɒnəʊʌltrəmaɪkrəʊˈskɒpɪkˌsɪlɪkəʊvɒlkeɪnəʊkəʊniˈəʊsɪs/; SAMPA: /nju:%mQn@UVltr/@maIkr/@U"skQpIk%sIlIk@UvQlkeIn@Uk@Uni"@UsIs/ (US): enPR: no͞o-män'ō-ŭl-trə-mī-krə-skäpʹĭk-sĭl'ē-kō-väl-kā-nō-kō-nē-ōʹsĭs; IPA: /nuˌmɑːnoʊʌltrəmaɪkroʊˈskɑːpɪkˌsɪlɪkoʊvɑːlkeɪnoʊkoʊniˈoʊsɪs/; SAMPA: /nu%mA:noUVltr@maIkroU"skA:pIk%sIlIkoUvA:lkeInoUkoUni"oUsIs/ Audio (US) (file) Hyphenation pneu·mon·o·ul·tra·mi·cro·scop·ic·sil·i·co·vol·ca·no·co·ni·o·sis

Noun

pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (plural pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconioses)

1. (nonce word) A factitious disease of the lungs, allegedly caused by inhaling microscopic silicate particles originating from eruption of a volcano.
   • 1980, March, Kerr, Lorin E., “Black Lung”, Journal of Public Health Policy, volume 1, number 1, JSTOR 3342357, page 50: 

     Call it miner's asthma, silicosis, pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, coal workers' pneumoconiosis, or black lung—they are all dust diseases with the same symptoms.

   • 1998 August 27, Smokey, “Lament for a Lung Disease”, talk.bizarre, Usenet:

     I say that it must be the silica dust
     That we breathed through our mouths and our noses
     That brought pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.

   • 2002 December 18, Pod, “Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis”, alt.fan.scarecrow, Usenet:

     It's either pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, or a bad cough.

   • 2011 April 28, Stradtman, Kurt D., Am I the Person My Mother Warned Me About?: A Four-year College Experience ... Only the Good Parts, Xlibris, ISBN 9781462862887, LCCN 2011906469, page 90:

     I still can't watch House M.D. and not have my mind wonder […] Even I can fear of having Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis after watching it.

Quotations

For more examples of the usage of this term see the citations page.

Coordinate terms

• black lung
• potter's rot
• miner cough

Hypernyms

• pneumoconiosis
• silicosis

Translations

disease of the lungs

Chinese: Mandarin: 礦工氣管癌 (zh) German: Quarzstaublunge (de) f., Quarzstaublungenkrankheit (de) f., Silikose (de) f.

Korean: 진폐증 (ko) Portuguese: pneumoultramicroscopicossilicovulcanoconiose (pt) f. Spanish: pneumoultramicroscopicosilicovolcanoconiosis (es) f.

Usage notes

Usage notes

The Oxford English Dictionary lists pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis 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”. This word was invented purely to be a contender for the title of the longest word in the English language, comprising forty-five letters. The word is not in official medical usage, and textbooks refer to this disease as pneumonoconiosis, pneumoconiosis, or silicosis. Other contenders for the title of “the longest word in the English language” hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia — 35 letters supercalifragilisticexpialidocious — 34 letters floccinaucinihilipilificatious — 30 letters floccinaucinihilipilification — 29 letters antidisestablishmentarianism — 28 letters