View source for Longest word in English

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The identity of the [[longest word]] in [[English language|English]] depends on the definition of "[[word]]" and of length.

Words may be derived naturally from [[History of English|the language's roots]] or formed by [[#Coinages|coinage]] and [[#Constructions|construction]]. Additionally, comparisons are complicated because [[#Place names|place names]] may be considered words, [[#Technical terms|technical terms]] may be arbitrarily long, and the addition of suffixes and prefixes may extend the length of words to create grammatically correct but unused or novel words. Different dictionaries include and omit different words.

The ''length'' of a word may also be understood in multiple ways. Most commonly, length is based on [[orthography]] (conventional spelling rules) and counting the number of written [[Letter (alphabet)|letters]]. Alternate, but less common, approaches include [[phonology]] (the spoken language) and the number of [[phonemes]] (sounds).

{| class="wikitable" style="margin-right:auto; font-size:95%"
|-
!Word !! Letters
!Meaning!! Claim !! Dispute
|-
|{{mono|[[wikt:Appendix:Protologisms/Long words/Titin|methionylthreonylthreonylglutaminylalanyl...isoleucine]]}}||189,819
|The chemical composition of [[titin]], the largest known protein||Longest known word overall by magnitudes. Attempts to say the entire word have taken two<ref>{{cite web |title=Reading The Longest English Word (190,000 Characters) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZVbzNRUlQI | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211110/IZVbzNRUlQI| archive-date=2021-11-10 | url-status=live|website=YouTube | date=2 June 2017 |access-date=2 August 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref> to three and a half hours.<ref>{{Cite web|title=World's longest word takes 3.5 hours to pronounce|url=https://cw39.com/newsfix/worlds-longest-word-takes-3-5-hours-to-pronounce/|date=2012-12-08|website=CW39 Houston|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-18|archive-date=2020-05-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200527051837/https://cw39.com/newsfix/worlds-longest-word-takes-3-5-hours-to-pronounce/|url-status=dead}}</ref>||Technical; not in dictionary; whether this should actually be considered a word is disputed
|-
|{{mono|[[methionylglutaminylarginyltyrosylglutamyl...serine]]}}||1,909
|The chemical name of ''[[E. coli]]'' [[Tryptophan synthase|TrpA]] ({{Uniprot|P0A877}})
|Longest published word<ref name="P0A877">{{cite book |author=Moore |first=Colista |url=https://archive.org/details/studentsdictiona00coli/page/524/mode/2up |title=A Student's Dictionary & Gazetteer |date=1 January 2006 |publisher=[[The Dictionary Project]] |isbn=978-0-9771777-5-2 |edition=11th |location=[[Sullivan's Island]] |page=524 |url-access=registration}}</ref>||Technical
|-
|{{mono|[[Lopadotemachoselachogaleokranioleipsanodrimhypotrimmatosilphiokarabomelitokatakechymenokichlepikossyphophattoperisteralektryonoptekephalliokigklopeleiolagoiosiraiobaphetraganopterygon|lopadotemachoselachogaleokranioleipsano...pterygon]]}}||183
|A fictional dish of food||Longest word [[Neologism|coined]] by a major author,<ref>see separate article [[Lopado...pterygon]]</ref> the longest word ever to appear in literature<ref>{{cite book| author = Donald McFarlan|author2=Norris Dewar McWhirter |author3=David A. Boeh | title = Guinness book of world records: 1990| url = https://archive.org/details/guinnessbookofwo00don_0e9| url-access = registration| year = 1989| publisher = Sterling| isbn = 978-0-8069-5790-6| page = [https://archive.org/details/guinnessbookofwo00don_0e9/page/129 129] }}</ref>||Contrived [[nonce word]]; not in dictionary; [[Ancient Greek]] transliteration
|-
|{{mono|[[pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis]]}}||45
|The disease [[silicosis]]||Longest word in a major dictionary<ref name="p45" />||Contrived coinage to make it the longest word; technical, but only mentioned and never actually used in communication
|-
|{{mono|[[supercalifragilisticexpialidocious]]}}||34
|Unclear – generally understood as a positive adjective or a [[nonsense word]]||Made popular in the [[Mary Poppins (film)|''Mary Poppins'' film]] and [[Mary Poppins (musical)|musical]]<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/origin-supercalifragilisticexpialidocious| title = Merriam Webster: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious}}</ref>||Contrived coinage
|-
|{{mono|[[pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism]]}}||30
|A hereditary medical disorder||Longest non-contrived word in a major dictionary<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutwords/longestword |title=What is the longest English word? |publisher=AskOxford |access-date=2010-08-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081022192048/http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutwords/longestword |archive-date=2008-10-22 |url-status=dead }}</ref> ||Technical
|-
|{{mono|[[Antidisestablishmentarianism (word)|antidisestablishmentarianism]]}}||28
|The political position of opposing [[Separation of church and state|disestablishment]]||Longest non-contrived and nontechnical word<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/page/longestword?view=uk|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130131032923/http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/page/longestword?view=uk|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 31, 2013|title=What is the longest English word?|work=oxforddictionaries.com}}</ref>||Not all dictionaries accept it due to lack of usage.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/no-antidisestablishmentarianism-is-not-in-the-dictionary| title = Merriam Webster: "Antidisestablishmentarianism is not in the dictionary."}}</ref>
|-
|{{mono|[[honorificabilitudinitatibus]]}}||27
|The state of being able to achieve honors
|Longest word in [[Shakespeare]]'s works; longest word in the English language featuring alternating consonants and vowels<ref>[http://www.innocentenglish.com/cool-interesting-and-strange-facts/cool-strange-and-interesting-facts-page-3-3.html "Cool, Strange, and Interesting Facts,"] fact 99.  ''InnocentEnglish.com''.  Retrieved 2019-03-13.</ref>||Latin
|}

== Major dictionaries ==
The longest word in any of the major [[English language]] [[dictionaries]] is ''[[pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis]]'' (45 letters), a word that refers to a lung disease contracted from the inhalation of very fine [[Silicon dioxide|silica]] particles,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://oxforddictionaries.com/view/entry/m_en_gb0642240#m_en_gb0642240|title=pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis – definition of pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis in English from the Oxford dictionary|work=oxforddictionaries.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120719114141/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis#m_en_gb0642240|archive-date=2012-07-19}}</ref> specifically from a volcano; medically, it is the same as [[silicosis]]. The word was deliberately coined to be the longest word in English,<ref name="p45">Coined around 1935 to be the longest word; press reports on puzzle league members legitimized it somewhat. First appeared in the MWNID supplement, 1939. Today OED and several others list it, but citations are almost always as "longest word". More detail at [[pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis]].</ref> and has since been used{{citation needed|date=November 2020}} in a close approximation of its originally intended meaning, lending at least some degree of validity to its claim.

The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' contains ''[[pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism]]'' (30 letters).

''[[Webster's Dictionary#Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary|Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary]]'' does not contain ''antidisestablishmentarianism'' (28 letters), as the editors found no widespread, sustained usage of the word in its original meaning. The longest word in that dictionary is ''[[wikt:electroencephalographically|electroencephalographically]]'' (27 letters).<ref>{{cite web|title=The Longest Word in the Dictionary|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/video/0048-longest_word_in_dictionary.htm|work=Ask the Editor|publisher=[[Merriam-Webster]]|access-date=14 November 2013|format=Video|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131121212903/http://www.merriam-webster.com/video/0048-longest_word_in_dictionary.htm|archive-date=21 November 2013}}</ref>

The longest non-technical word in major dictionaries is ''[[wikt:floccinaucinihilipilification|flocci{{shy}}nauci{{shy}}nihili{{shy}}pili{{shy}}fication]]'' at 29 letters. Consisting of a series of Latin words meaning "nothing" and defined as "the act of estimating something as worthless"; its usage has been recorded as far back as 1741.<ref>[http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-flo2.htm "Floccinaucinihilipilification" by Michael Quinion ''World Wide Words''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060821091705/http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-flo2.htm |date=2006-08-21 }};</ref><ref>The ''[[Guinness Book of Records]]'', in its 1992 and previous editions, declared the longest real word in the English language to be ''floccinaucinihilipilification''. More recent editions of the book have acknowledged ''pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis''. [http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutwords/longestword?view=uk What is the longest English word? - Oxford Dictionaries Online] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060826181850/http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutwords/longestword?view=uk |date=2006-08-26 }}</ref><ref>In recent times its usage has been recorded in the proceedings of the United States Senate by Senator [[Robert Byrd]] Discussion between Sen. Moynihan and Sen. Byrd "Mr. President, may I say to the distinguished Senator from New York, I used that word on the Senate floor myself 2 or 3 years ago. I cannot remember just when or what the occasion was, but I used it on that occasion to indicate that whatever it was I was discussing it was something like a mere trifle or nothing really being of moment." Congressional Record June 17, 1991, p. S7887, and at the White House by [[Bill Clinton]]'s press secretary [[Mike McCurry (press secretary)|Mike McCurry]], albeit sarcastically. December 6, 1995, White House Press Briefing in discussing Congressional Budget Office estimates and assumptions: "But if you – as a practical matter of estimating the economy, the difference is not great. There's a little bit of floccinaucinihilipilification going on here."</ref>

[[A. Ross Eckler, Jr.|Ross Eckler]] has noted that most of the longest English words are not likely to occur in general text, meaning non-technical present-day text seen by casual readers, in which the author did not specifically intend to use an unusually long word. According to Eckler, the longest words likely to be encountered in general text are ''[[deinstitutionalisation]]'' (or ''deinstitutionalization'') and ''[[counterrevolutionaries]]'', with 22 letters each.<ref>Eckler, R. ''Making the Alphabet Dance'', p 252, 1996.</ref>

A computer study of over a million samples of normal English prose found that the longest word one is likely to encounter on an everyday basis is ''uncharacteristically'', at 20 letters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.maltron.com/words/words-longest-modern.html |title=Longest Common Words – Modern |publisher=Maltron.com |access-date=2010-08-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090427054251/http://www.maltron.com/words/words-longest-modern.html |archive-date=27 April 2009 }}</ref>

== Creations of long words ==
=== Coinages ===
In his play ''[[Assemblywomen]]'' (''Ecclesiazousae''), the [[ancient Greece|ancient Greek]] comedic playwright [[Aristophanes]] created a word of 171 letters (183 in the [[transliteration]] below), which describes a [[recipe|dish]] by stringing together its ingredients:
<div style="overflow:auto">
:[[Lopadotemachoselachogaleokranioleipsanodrimhypotrimmatosilphiokarabomelitokatakechymenokichlepikossyphophattoperisteralektryonoptekephalliokigklopeleiolagoiosiraiobaphetraganopterygon]].
</div>

[[Henry Carey (writer)|Henry Carey]]'s farce ''[[Chrononhotonthologos]]'' (1743) holds the opening line: "Aldiborontiphoscophornio! Where left you Chrononhotonthologos?"

[[Thomas Love Peacock]] put these creations into the mouth of the phrenologist Mr. Cranium in his 1816 book ''[[Headlong Hall]]'': ''osteosarchaematosplanchnochondroneuromuelous'' (44 characters) and ''osseocarnisanguineoviscericartilaginonervomedullary'' (51 characters).

[[James Joyce]] made up nine 100-letter words plus one 101-letter word in his novel ''[[Finnegans Wake]]'', the most famous of which is Bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonnerronntuonnthunntrovarrhounawnskawntoohoohoordenenthurnuk. Appearing on the first page, it allegedly represents the symbolic thunderclap associated with the fall of [[Adam and Eve]]. As it appears nowhere else except in reference to this passage, it is generally not accepted as a real word. [[Sylvia Plath]] made mention of it in her semi-autobiographical novel ''[[The Bell Jar]]'', when the protagonist was reading ''Finnegans Wake''.

"[[Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious]]", the 34-letter title of a song from the movie ''[[Mary Poppins (film)|Mary Poppins]]'', does appear in several dictionaries, but only as a [[proper noun]] defined in reference to the song title. The attributed meaning is "a word that you say when you don't know what to say." The idea and invention of the word is credited to songwriters [[Robert and Richard Sherman]].

=== Agglutinative constructions ===
The English language permits the legitimate extension of existing words to serve new purposes by the addition of prefixes and suffixes. This is sometimes referred to as [[agglutinative language|agglutinative]] construction. This process can create arbitrarily long words: for example, the prefixes ''pseudo'' (false, spurious) and ''anti'' (against, opposed to) can be added as many times as desired. More familiarly, the addition of numerous "great"s to a relative, such as "great-great-great-great-grandparent", can produce words of arbitrary length. In [[musical notation]], an 8192nd note may be called a ''{{not a typo|semihemidemisemihemidemisemihemidemisemiquaver}}''.

''[[Antidisestablishmentarianism (word)|Antidisestablishmentarianism]]'' is the longest common example of a word formed by [[agglutinative]] construction.

=== Technical terms ===
[[File:Parastratiosphecomyia stratiosphecomyioides Brunetti (lectotype) - ZooKeys-238-001-g002-2.jpg|thumb|120px|right|''[[Parastratiosphecomyia stratiosphecomyioides|Para{{shy}}stratio{{shy}}sphe{{shy}}com{{shy}}yia stratio{{shy}}sphe{{shy}}com{{shy}}yioi{{shy}}des]]'']]
A number of scientific naming schemes can be used to generate arbitrarily long words.

The [[IUPAC]] nomenclature for organic chemical compounds is open-ended, giving rise to the 189,819-letter chemical name ''Methionyl{{shy}}threonyl{{nowrap|threonyl{{hsp}}.{{hsp}}.{{hsp}}.{{hsp}}iso}}{{shy}}leucine'' for the protein also known as [[titin]], which is involved in striated muscle formation. In nature, DNA molecules can be much bigger than protein molecules and therefore potentially be referred to with much longer chemical names. For example, the wheat chromosome 3B contains almost 1 billion base pairs,<ref>Paux et al. (2008) Science, Vol. 322 (5898) 101–104. A Physical Map of the 1-Gigabase Bread Wheat Chromosome 3B {{cite journal |url=https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.1161847 |doi=10.1126/science.1161847 |access-date=2012-12-01 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150903222353/http://www.sciencemag.org/content/322/5898/101.full |archive-date=2015-09-03 |title=A Physical Map of the 1-Gigabase Bread Wheat Chromosome 3B |year=2008 |last1=Paux |first1=Etienne |last2=Sourdille |first2=Pierre |last3=Salse |first3=Jérôme |last4=Saintenac |first4=Cyrille |last5=Choulet |first5=Frédéric |last6=Leroy |first6=Philippe |last7=Korol |first7=Abraham |last8=Michalak |first8=Monika |last9=Kianian |first9=Shahryar |last10=Spielmeyer |first10=Wolfgang |last11=Lagudah |first11=Evans |last12=Somers |first12=Daryl |last13=Kilian |first13=Andrzej |last14=Alaux |first14=Michael |last15=Vautrin |first15=Sonia |last16=Bergès |first16=Hélène |last17=Eversole |first17=Kellye |last18=Appels |first18=Rudi |last19=Safar |first19=Jan |last20=Simkova |first20=Hana |last21=Dolezel |first21=Jaroslav |last22=Bernard |first22=Michel |last23=Feuillet |first23=Catherine |journal=Science |volume=322 |issue=5898 |pages=101–104 |pmid=18832645 |bibcode=2008Sci...322..101P |s2cid=27686615 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> so the sequence of one of its strands, if written out in full like ''Adenilyl{{shy}}adenilyl{{shy}}guanilyl{{shy}}cystidyl{{nowrap|thymidyl{{hsp}}.{{hsp}}.{{hsp}}.{{hsp}}}}'', would be about 8{{spaces}}billion letters long. The longest published word, ''Acetyl{{shy}}seryl{{shy}}tyrosyl{{shy}}seryl{{nowrap|iso{{hsp}}.{{hsp}}.{{hsp}}.{{hsp}}serine}}'', referring to the coat protein of a certain strain of [[tobacco mosaic virus]] ({{uniprot|P03575}}), is 1,185 letters long, and appeared in the [[American Chemical Society]]'s [[Chemical Abstracts Service]] in 1964 and 1966.<ref>''Chemical Abstracts Formula Index, Jan.–June 1964'', Page 967F; ''Chemical Abstracts 7th Coll. Formulas, C<sub>23</sub>H<sub>32</sub>-Z, 56–65, 1962–1966'', Page 6717F</ref> In 1965, the Chemical Abstracts Service overhauled its naming system and started discouraging excessively long names. In 2011, a dictionary broke this record with a 1909-letter word describing the ''trpA'' protein ({{Uniprot|P0A877}}).<ref name=P0A877/>

[[John Horton Conway]] and [[Landon Curt Noll]] developed an open-ended system for naming powers of 10, in which one ''{{Not a typo|sexmillia{{shy}}quingen{{shy}}sexagin{{shy}}tillion}}'', coming from the Latin name for 6560, is the name for 10<sup>3(6560+1)</sup> = 10<sup>19683</sup>. Under the [[Long and short scales|long number scale]], it would be 10<sup>6(6560)</sup> = 10<sup>39360</sup>.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Noll |first1=Landon Curt |title=How high can you count? |url=http://www.isthe.com/chongo/tech/math/number/howhigh.html |website=www.isthe.com |access-date=2 September 2024 |date=8 July 2022}}</ref>

''{{visible anchor|Gammara{{shy}}canthus{{shy}}kyto{{shy}}dermo{{shy}}gammarus lori{{shy}}cato{{shy}}baica{{shy}}lensis}}'' is sometimes cited as the longest [[Binomial nomenclature|binomial name]]—it is a kind of [[amphipod]]. However, this name, proposed by [[Benedykt Dybowski|B. Dybowski]], was invalidated by the [[International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature]] in 1929 after being petitioned by [[Mary J. Rathbun]] to take up the case.<ref>{{citation|mode=cs1|title=Opinions Rendered by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature: Opinions 105 to 114|chapter=Opinion 105. Dybowski's (1926) Names of Crustacea Suppressed|series=Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections|date=1929|volume=73|issue=6|pages=1–3|hdl-access=free|hdl=10088/23619|id={{BHL page|8911139}}}}</ref>

''[[Myxococcus llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogochensis]]'' is the longest accepted binomial name for an organism. It is a bacterium found in soil collected at [[Llanfairpwllgwyngyll|Llan{{shy}}fair{{shy}}pwll{{shy}}gwyn{{shy}}gyll{{shy}}]] (discussed below). ''[[Parastratiosphecomyia stratiosphecomyioides]]'' is the longest accepted binomial name for any animal, or any organism visible with the naked eye. It is a species of [[Stratiomyidae|soldier fly]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thelongestlistofthelongeststuffatthelongestdomainnameatlonglast.com/long428.html|title=World's longest name of an animal. Parastratiosphecomyia stratiosphecomyioides Stratiomyid Fly Soldier Fly.|author=rjk|work=thelongestlistofthelongeststuffatthelongestdomainnameatlonglast.com|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111117001007/http://www.thelongestlistofthelongeststuffatthelongestdomainnameatlonglast.com/long428.html|archive-date=2011-11-17|access-date=2011-12-17}}</ref>  The genus name ''[[Parapropalaehoplophorus]]'' (a fossil [[glyptodont]], an extinct family of mammals related to [[armadillo]]s) is two letters longer, but does not contain a similarly long species name.

''{{visible anchor|Aequeo{{shy}}salino{{shy}}calcalino{{shy}}ceraceo{{shy}}aluminoso{{shy}}cupreo{{shy}}vitriolic}}'', at 52 letters, describing the [[Hot spring|spa]] waters at [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], England, is attributed to Dr. Edward Strother (1675–1737).<ref>cited in some editions of the [[Guinness Book of Records]] as the longest word in English, see [https://web.archive.org/web/20011006121814/http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutwords/longestword Askoxford.com] on the longest English word</ref> The word is composed of the following elements:
* Aequeo: equal (Latin, aequo<ref>[http://perseus.uchicago.edu/hopper/morph.jsp?l=aequo&la=la]{{dead link|date=August 2010}}</ref>)
* Salino: containing salt (Latin, salinus)
* Calcalino: calcium (Latin, calx)
* Ceraceo: waxy (Latin, ''cera'')
* Aluminoso: [[alumina]] (Latin)
* Cupreo: from "copper"
* Vitriolic: resembling [[vitriol]]

== Notable long words ==
=== Place names ===<!-- This section is linked from [[Bangkok]]. -->
{{Main|List of long place names}}
[[File:New Zealand 0577.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The sign at [[Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu|{{not a  typo|Taumata{{shy}}whakatangihanga{{shy}}koauau{{shy}}o{{shy}}tamatea{{shy}}turi{{shy}}pukaka{{shy}}piki{{shy}}maunga{{shy}}horo{{shy}}nuku{{shy}}pokai{{shy}}whenua{{shy}}ki{{shy}}tana{{shy}}tahu}}]]]]
[[File:Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch station sign (cropped version 1).jpg|thumb|right|250px|The station sign at [[Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch|{{not a typo|Llan{{shy}}fair{{shy}}pwll{{shy}}gwyn{{shy}}gyll{{shy}}gogery{{shy}}chwyrn{{shy}}drob{{shy}}wlll{{shy}}lanty{{shy}}silio{{shy}}gogo{{shy}}goch}}]] in North [[Wales]]]]

The longest officially recognized place name in an English-speaking country is [[Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu|{{not a  typo|Taumata{{shy}}whakatangihanga{{shy}}koauau{{shy}}o{{shy}}tamatea{{shy}}turi{{shy}}pukaka{{shy}}piki{{shy}}maunga{{shy}}horo{{shy}}nuku{{shy}}pokai{{shy}}whenua{{shy}}ki{{shy}}tana{{shy}}tahu}}]] (85 letters), which is a hill in [[New Zealand]] (see the signpost photo on this page). The name is in the [[Māori language]]. There are several variant spellings of the name, including some that are longer. In Māori, the digraphs ''ng'' and ''wh'' are each treated as single letters.

In [[Canada]], the longest place name is ''[[Dysart et al, Ontario|Dysart, Dudley, Harcourt, Guilford, Harburn, Bruton, Havelock, Eyre and Clyde]]'', a [[township]] in [[Ontario]], at 61 letters or 68 non-space characters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://geonames.nrcan.gc.ca/info/trivia_e.php |title=GeoNames Government of Canada site |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090206201115/http://geonames.nrcan.gc.ca/info/trivia_e.php |archive-date=2009-02-06 }}</ref>

The 58-letter name ''[[Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch|Llan{{shy}}fair{{shy}}pwll{{shy}}gwyn{{shy}}gyll{{shy}}gogery{{shy}}chwyrn{{shy}}drob{{shy}}wlll{{shy}}lanty{{shy}}silio{{shy}}gogo{{shy}}goch]]'' is the name of a town on [[Anglesey]], an island of [[Wales]]. In terms of the traditional Welsh alphabet, the name is only 51 letters long, as certain digraphs in [[Welsh language|Welsh]] are considered as single letters, for instance ''ll'', ''ng'' and ''ch''. It is generally agreed, however, that this invented name, adopted in the mid-19th century, was contrived solely to be the longest name of any town in Britain. The official name of the place is ''Llanfairpwllgwyngyll'', commonly abbreviated to ''Llanfairpwll'' or ''Llanfair PG''.

The longest non-contrived place name in the United Kingdom which is a single non-hyphenated word is [[Cottonshopeburnfoot]] (19 letters) and the longest which is hyphenated is [[Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe]] (29 characters).

The longest place name in the United States (45 letters) is ''{{not a typo|[[Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg|Char{{shy}}gogga{{shy}}gogg{{shy}}man{{shy}}chau{{shy}}ggagogg{{shy}}chau{{shy}}buna{{shy}}gunga{{shy}}maugg]]}}'', a lake in [[Webster, Massachusetts|Webster]], [[Massachusetts]]. It means "Fishing Place at the Boundaries – Neutral Meeting Grounds" and is sometimes facetiously translated as "you fish your side of the water, I fish my side of the water, nobody fishes the middle". The lake is also known as Webster Lake.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/20/national/20lake.html | work=The New York Times | first=Pam | last=Belluck | title=What's the Name of That Lake? It's Hard to Say | date=2004-11-20}}</ref> The longest hyphenated names in the U.S. are ''[[Winchester-on-the-Severn]]'', a town in [[Maryland]], and ''[[Washington-on-the-Brazos]]'', a notable place in [[Texas]] history. The longest single-word town names in the U.S. are [[Kleinfeltersville, Pennsylvania]] and [[Mooselookmeguntic, Maine]].

The longest official geographical name in Australia is [[Mamungkukumpurangkuntjunya Hill|{{not a typo|Ma{{shy}}mungku{{shy}}kumpu{{shy}}rang{{shy}}kunt{{shy}}junya}}]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ga.gov.au/bin/gazd01?rec=204304 |title=Geoscience Australia Gazetteer |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001005330/http://www.ga.gov.au/bin/gazd01?rec=204304 |archive-date=2007-10-01 }}</ref> It has 26 letters and is a [[Pitjantjatjara language|Pitjantjatjara]] word meaning "where [[the Devil]] urinates".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.placenames.sa.gov.au/pno/pnores.phtml?recno=SA0078626 |title=South Australian State Gazetteer |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001000850/http://www.placenames.sa.gov.au/pno/pnores.phtml?recno=SA0078626 |archive-date=2007-10-01 }}</ref>

[[Liechtenstein]] is the longest single-word country name in English, and the second-longest is [[Turkmenistan]].

{{See also|List of short place names}}

=== Personal names ===
''[[Guinness World Records]]'' formerly contained a category for longest [[personal name]] used.
* From about 1975 to 1985, the recordholder was Adolph Blaine Charles David Earl Frederick Gerald Hubert Irvin John Kenneth Lloyd Martin Nero Oliver Paul Quincy Randolph Sherman Thomas Uncas Victor William Xerxes Yancy Zeus {{not a typo|Wolfe{{shy}}schlegelstein{{shy}}hausenberger{{shy}}dorffvoraltern{{shy}}waren{{shy}}gewissenhaft{{shy}}schaferswessen{{shy}}schafewaren{{shy}}wohlgepflege{{shy}}und{{shy}}sorgfaltigkeit{{shy}}beschutzen{{shy}}von{{shy}}angreifen{{shy}}durch{{shy}}ihrraubgierigfeinde{{shy}}welche{{shy}}voraltern{{shy}}zwolftausend{{shy}}jahres{{shy}}vorandieerscheinen{{shy}}wander{{shy}}ersteer{{shy}}dem{{shy}}enschderraumschiff{{shy}}gebrauchlicht{{shy}}als{{shy}}sein{{shy}}ursprung{{shy}}von{{shy}}kraftgestart{{shy}}sein{{shy}}lange{{shy}}fahrt{{shy}}hinzwischen{{shy}}sternartigraum{{shy}}auf{{shy}}der{{shy}}suchenach{{shy}}diestern{{shy}}welche{{shy}}gehabt{{shy}}bewohnbar{{shy}}planeten{{shy}}kreise{{shy}}drehen{{shy}}sich{{shy}}und{{shy}}wohin{{shy}}der{{shy}}neurasse{{shy}}von{{shy}}verstandigmen{{shy}}schlichkeit{{shy}}konnte{{shy}}fortplanzen{{shy}}und{{shy}}sicher{{shy}}freuen{{shy}}anlebens{{shy}}langlich{{shy}}freude{{shy}}und{{shy}}ruhe{{shy}}mit{{shy}}nicht{{shy}}ein{{shy}}furcht{{shy}}vor{{shy}}angreifen{{shy}}von{{shy}}anderer{{shy}}intelligent{{shy}}geschopfs{{shy}}von{{shy}}hinzwischen{{shy}}sternartigraum,}} Senior (746 letters), also known as [[Hubert Blaine Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff Sr.|Wolfe+585, Senior]].
* After 1985 Guinness briefly awarded the record to a newborn girl with a longer name. The category was removed shortly afterward.

Long birth names are often coined in protest of naming laws or for other personal reasons.
* The [[naming law in Sweden]] was challenged by parents Lasse Diding and Elisabeth Hallin, who proposed the given name "Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116" for their child (pronounced {{IPA|sv|ˈǎlːbɪn|}}, 43 characters), which was rejected by a [[district court]] in [[Halmstad]], southern Sweden.

=== Words with certain characteristics of notable length ===
{{original research|section|date=August 2017}}
{{Main|List of the longest English words with one syllable}}
* ''Schmaltzed'' and ''strengthed'' (10 letters) appear to be the longest [[monosyllabic]] words recorded in ''[[The Oxford English Dictionary]]'', while ''scraunched'' and ''scroonched'' appear to be the longest [[monosyllabic]] words recorded in ''[[Webster's Third New International Dictionary]]''; but ''squirrelled'' (11 letters) is the longest if pronounced as one syllable only (as permitted in ''The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary'' and ''[[Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary]]'' at ''squirrel'', and in ''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''). ''Schtroumpfed'' (12 letters) was coined by [[Umberto Eco]], while ''broughammed'' (11 letters) was coined by [[William Harmon]] after ''broughamed'' (10 letters) was coined by [[George Bernard Shaw]].
* ''Strengths'' is the longest word in the English language containing only one vowel letter.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/longest-word-in-the-english-language-with-only-one-vowel/| title = Guinness Records}}</ref>
* ''[[Euouae]]'', a [[medieval]] musical term, is the longest English word consisting only of vowels, and the word with the most consecutive vowels. However, the "word" itself is simply a [[mnemonic]] consisting of the vowels to be sung in the phrase "seculorum Amen" at the end of the [[doxology|lesser doxology]]. (Although ''u'' was often used interchangeably with ''v'', and the variant "Evovae" is occasionally used, the ''v'' in these cases would still be a vowel.)
* The [[longest word]]s with [[isogram|no repeated letters]] are  ''subdermatoglyphic'', ''dermatoglyphics'', and ''uncopyrightable''.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://riddlesbrainteasers.com/longest-word-without-repeating-letters/| title = Longest Word Without Repeating Letters| date = December 2014}}</ref>
* The longest word whose letters are in alphabetical order is the eight-letter ''[[Aegilops]]'', a grass genus. However, this is arguably a [[proper noun]]. There are several six-letter English words with their letters in alphabetical order, including ''abhors'', ''almost'', ''begins'', ''biopsy'', ''chimps'' and ''chintz''.<ref name="typewriter" /> There are few 7-letter words, such as "billowy" and "beefily". The longest words whose letters are in reverse alphabetical order are ''sponged'', ''wronged'' and ''trollied''.
* The longest word without any of the main five vowels but including Y: ''Twyndyllyng''.{{Main|English words without vowels}}
* The longest words recorded in OED with each vowel only once, and in order, are ''abstemiously'', ''affectiously'', and ''{{not a typo|tragediously}}'' (OED). ''Fracedinously'' and ''gravedinously'' (constructed from adjectives in OED) have thirteen letters; ''Gadspreciously'', constructed from ''Gadsprecious'' (in OED), has fourteen letters. ''Facetiously'' is among the few other words directly attested in OED with single occurrences of all six vowels (counting ''y'' as a vowel).
* The longest word without [[Descender|descenders]] or [[Ascender (typography)|ascenders]] is ''overnumerousnesses''.
* The longest single [[Palindrome|palindromic]] word in English is ''rotavator'', another name for a [[rotary tiller]] for breaking and aerating soil.

==== Typed words ====
* The longest words typable with only the left hand using conventional hand placement on a [[QWERTY]] keyboard are ''[[wikt:tesseradecade|tesseradecades]]'', ''[[wikt:aftercataracts|aftercataracts]]'',  ''[[wikt:dereverberated|dereverberated]]'', ''[[wikt:dereverberates|dereverberates]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sciencelinks.jp/j-east/article/200319/000020031903A0436636.php |title=Science Links Japan &#124; Two Unique Aftercataracts Requiring Surgical Removal |publisher=Sciencelinks.jp |date=2009-03-18 |access-date=2010-08-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110217081656/http://sciencelinks.jp/j-east/article/200319/000020031903A0436636.php |archive-date=2011-02-17 }}</ref> and the more common but sometimes hyphenated ''sweaterdresses''.<ref name="typewriter">{{cite web |url=http://www.questrel.com/records.html#spelling_typewriter_order |title=Typewriter Words |publisher=Questrel.com |access-date=2010-08-22 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100927071605/http://www.questrel.com/records.html#spelling_typewriter_order |archive-date=2010-09-27 }}</ref> Using the right hand alone, the longest word that can be typed is ''[[Heartsease|johnny-jump-up]]'', or, excluding [[hyphen]]s, ''monimolimnion''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O13-monimolimnion.html?jse=0|title=Dictionary entry for monimolimnion, a word that, at 13 letters, is longer than any of the words linked in the source above|access-date=2009-08-15|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090909214139/http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O13-monimolimnion.html?jse=0|archive-date=2009-09-09}}</ref> and ''phyllophyllin''.
* The longest English word typable using only the top row of letters has 11 letters: ''[[rupturewort]]''. The word ''[[seesaw|teetertotter]]'' (used in [[North American English]]) is longer at 12 letters, although it is usually spelled with a hyphen.
* The longest using only the middle row is ''shakalshas'' (10 letters). Nine-letter words include ''flagfalls''; eight-letter words include ''galahads'' and ''alfalfas''.
* Since the bottom row contains no vowels, no standard words can be formed.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fun-with-words.com/word_records.html |title=Word Records |publisher=Fun-with-words.com |access-date=2012-08-13 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120826081140/http://www.fun-with-words.com/word_records.html |archive-date=2012-08-26 }}</ref>
* The longest word typable by alternating left and right hands is ''antiskepticism''.<ref name="typewriter" />
* On a [[Dvorak Simplified Keyboard|Dvorak]] keyboard, the longest "left-handed" words are ''epopoeia'', ''[[Jipijapa (disambiguation)|jipijapa]]'', ''[[peekapoo]]'', and ''quiaquia''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wordnik.com/lists/typewriter-words/ |title=Typewriter Words |publisher=Wordnik.com |access-date=2011-01-15 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717053017/http://www.wordnik.com/lists/typewriter-words/ |archive-date=2011-07-17 }}</ref> Other such long words are ''[[papaya]]'', ''[[wikt:Kikuyu|Kikuyu]]'', ''opaque'', and ''upkeep''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theworldofstuff.com/dvorak/ |title=The Dvorak Keyboard and You |publisher=Theworldofstuff.com |access-date=2010-08-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100820154431/http://www.theworldofstuff.com/dvorak/ |archive-date=2010-08-20 }}</ref> ''Kikuyu'' is typed entirely with the index finger, and so the longest one-fingered word on the Dvorak keyboard. There are no vowels on the right-hand side, and so the longest "right-handed" word is [[crwth]]s.
* The word that has the most consecutive letters that are shared on a [[Telephone keypad|phone keyboard]] is ''[[Non-monotonic_logic|nonmonotonic]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://what-if.xkcd.com/75/|title=Phone Keypad|publisher=What-if.xkcd.com|access-date=2025-01-17|url-status=live}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|
* [[Lipogram]]
* [[List of long species names]]
* [[List of the longest English words with one syllable]]
* [[Longest English sentence]]
* [[Longest word in French]]
* [[Longest word in Romanian]]
* [[Longest word in Spanish]]
* [[Longest word in Turkish]]
* [[English language#Vocabulary|Number of words in English]]
* [[Scriptio continua]]
* [[Sesquipedalianism]]
* [[Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft|Donau{{shy}}dampf{{shy}}schiffahrts{{shy}}elektrizitäten{{shy}}haupt{{shy}}betriebs{{shy}}werk{{shy}}bau{{shy}}unter{{shy}}beamten{{shy}}gesellschaft]], longest published word in German
}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
{{Wiktionary category 2|Long English words}}
{{Spoken Wikipedia|En-Longest word in English.ogg|date=2011-01-08}}
* [http://members.aol.com/gulfhigh2/words11.html A Collection of Word Oddities and Trivia – Long words]
** [http://jeff560.tripod.com/words13.html Long words (chemical names)]
** [http://jeff560.tripod.com/words12.html Long words (place names)]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20011006121814/http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutwords/longestword ''What is the longest English word?''], [[AskOxford.com]] "Ask the Experts"
* [http://www.fun-with-words.com/word_longest.html ''What is the Longest Word?''], Fun-With-Words.com
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100209004246/http://www.sarahmcculloch.com/luminaryuprise/longest-word.html Full chemical name of titin].
* [http://www.questrel.com/records.html Taxonomy of Wordplay]

[[Category:English words|*]]
[[Category:Longest words by language|English]]
[[Category:Types of words]]