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pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis

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Etymology

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *plew-
Proto-Indo-European *-mṓ
Proto-Indo-European *pléwmō
Ancient Greek πλεύμων (pleúmōn)
▲
Ancient Greek πνέω (pnéō)influ.
▲
Ancient Greek πνεῦμα (pneûma)influ.
Ancient Greek πνεύμων (pneúmōn)
Ancient Greek -ο- (-o-)der.
Latin -o-bor.
German -o-
German Pneumono-
Proto-Indo-European *ken-der.
Ancient Greek κόνις (kónis)
Proto-Indo-European *-tis
Ancient Greek -τις (-tis)
Ancient Greek -σῐς (-sĭs)
Ancient Greek -ωσις (-ōsis)bor.
New Latin -ōsislbor.
German -osis
German Pneumonokoniosisbor.
English pneumonoconiosis
Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-
Latin ūls
Proto-Indo-European *-teros?
Latin -ter
Old Latin -ād
Latin -ā
Latin ultrābor.
English ultra-
Proto-Indo-European *mey-der.?
Ancient Greek μῑκρός (mīkrós)
Proto-Indo-European *speḱ-
Proto-Indo-European *-yeti
Proto-Indo-European *spéḱyeti
Proto-Hellenic *sképťomai
Ancient Greek σκέπτομαι (sképtomai)
Proto-Indo-European *-ós
Proto-Hellenic *-ós
▲
Ancient Greek -ος (-os)influ.
Ancient Greek -ός (-ós)
Ancient Greek σκοπός (skopós)
Proto-Indo-European *-eti
Proto-Indo-European *-eyéti
Proto-Indo-European *-esyéti
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁ti
Proto-Indo-European *-yeti
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁yeti
Proto-Indo-European *-yeti
Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti
Ancient Greek -έω (-éō)
Ancient Greek σκοπέω (skopéō)
Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós
Proto-Italic *-ijos
Proto-Italic *-ios
Old Latin -ios
Latin -ius
Latin -ium
Latin mīcroscopiumlbor.
Italian microscopiobor.
English microscope
Proto-Indo-European *-kos
Proto-Indo-European *-ikos
Proto-Italic *-ikos
Latin -icuslbor.
Old French -iquebor.
Middle English -ik
English -ic
English microscopic
English ultramicroscopic
Latin silex
▲
Latin -ium
New Latin siliciumlbor.
English silicium
English -on
English silicon
▲
Latin -o-bor.
English -o-
English silico-
Cretan Ancient Greek Ϝέλχανος (Wélkhanos)der.?
Latin Vulcānusbor.
Italian Vulcano
Italian vulcanobor.
English volcano
English pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis

    Coined by American puzzle designer and newspaper editor Everett Smith, President of the National Puzzlers' League, at their convention in 1935 as a deliberately long word. An extension of the medical term pneumonoconiosis (by surface analysis, pneumono- (“lung”) +‎ coniosis (“disease caused by the inhalation of dust”)) with ultramicroscopic +‎ silico- +‎ volcano inserted between the two elements.

    Pronunciation

    • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌnjuːmə.nəʊ.ʌl.tɹə.maɪ.kɹəʊˌskɒ.pɪkˌsɪ.lɪ.kəʊ.vɒl.keɪ.nəʊ.kəʊ.niˈəʊ.sɪs/[1]
      • Audio (UK):(file)
    • (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.kæ.noʊ.kä.niˈoʊ.sɪs/, /nuˈmɑ.noʊˌʌl.tɹə.maɪ.kɹoʊˈskɑ.pɪkˈsɪ.lɪ.koʊ.vɑlˌkeɪ.noʊ.koʊ.niˈoʊ.sɪs/
    • 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)

    1. (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.
      • 1998 August 27, Smokey, “Lament for a Lung Disease”, in talk.bizarre‎[1] (Usenet), message-ID <6s3r8o$brt$1@camel15.mindspring.com>:
        I say that it must be the silica dust
        That we breathed through our mouths and our noses
        That brought pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.
      • 2002 December 18, Pod, “Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis”, in alt.fan.scarecrow‎[2] (Usenet), message-ID <iHSL9.2091$h43.295898@stones>:
        It's either pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, or a bad cough.
      • 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 3 August 2017:
        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, where it is listed 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

    References

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 The second edition of the Oxford English Dictionary gives the stress on the second syllable. This was changed in the third edition, in which the British English pronunciation stresses the first syllable as shown here.
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