User blog:Edwin Shade/Large Words

On a spur of the moment, I decided to list the longest English words I could, with the criteria that the word has to have been in print online or in a book somewhere, and must have been seen by at least 100,000 people. Also, each successive word begins with a new letter of the alphabet. This was done about a month ago. Here are the words I discovered, with their definitions.

A-aequeosalinocalcalinocerseoaluminosocupreovitriolic Def:A word coined by Dr.Edward Strother describing the spa waters at Bath, England, (ironic town name, there). It is composed of latin bases that form a larger word, so one might argue that it is not English, however, almost all of the latin bases are English words in their own right, so I included it.

B-bababadalgharaghtakamminarronkonnbronntonnerronntuonnthuntrovarrhounawnskawntoohoohoordenenthurnuk Def: The symbolic "thunderclap" associated with the fall of Adam and Eve. In the notoriously muddled novel Finnegan's Wake it is used as the first "thunderword" out of ten in the book, being comprised of multiple language translations of the word thunder put together.

C-cholangiocholecystocholedochectomy Def: Surgical removal of the hepatic duct, common bile duct, and gallbladder. (Ew.)

D-demethylchlortetracycline Def: An antibiotic effective against Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and the Typhus fever. Although I could have easily made this list of words longer by including more chemical names like this one, I strove for words with more than just highly technical meanings, therefore I only included a few chemical and medical names.

E-electroencephalographically Def: Characterized by study of the brain's electrical activity, (your thoughts).

F-floccinaucinihilipilification Def: The action or habit of estimating something as worthless. It was coined by students at Eton College as a joke but now has become a word oft used in places like this where long words are being used on purpose.

G-glottochronological Def: Of having relation to the study of languages over time. "Glotto" means tongue and "chrono" means time, simple enough.

H-hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia Def: The fear of big words. I suspect whoever named it did not have it.

I-immunoelectrophoretically Def: Characterized by the technique for identifying the antigens in a blood serum, which are then separated into fractions.

J-juxtapositioned Def: When one object is positioned over the other. I find it surprising this seems to be the longest word beginning with the letter J, as though J is not the most frequent letter, it does appear often in English.

K-keratoconjunctivitises Def: The medical term for dry eyes.

L-lymphangioleiomyomatosis Def: A disease that affects the lungs.

M-microcryptocrystalline Def: Being composed of crystals so minute their form cannot be seen with a normal microscope, but can only be detected by aggregate polarization, (in other words, if you know most of the atoms are pointing one way, then they are probably in a regular structure).

N-nitrochloroanthraquinoes Def: An ingredient used in explosives. It is of interest that a lot of explosives begin with the prefix "nitro" because so many contain nitrogen, an abundant element in the atmosphere.

O-organophosphorus Def: Organic molecules containing phosphorus. Used especially in reference to pesticides.

P-pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis Def: A lung disease caused by breathing in fine silicon particles from a volcano. In the medical biz it is abbreviated "P45", where 45 refers to the number of letters in it's name. It is mostly used though as a word people use to beat antidisestablishmentarianism in length.

Q-quattuorquadringentiquinquagintillionths Def: The plural of the reciprocal of 10 to the power of 1,365. This is a very, very small number, even compared with a googleminex. It is also one of the largest number names that can be formed with the traditional naming procedure of naming -illions.

R-reinstitutionalizations Def: Being institutionalized more than once.

S-supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Def:A word you say when you have nothing else to say, want to reference Mary Poppins, are ecstatic about a matter, or just want a fancier way to say "Super". Official dictionaries do not consider this a word, but way more than 100,000 people have heard of it, so it is still valid to me.

T-thermoluminescence Def: Giving off light as a result of heat,like a hot poker. Not to be confused with bioluminescence.

U-unconstitutionalities Def: Things which are unconstitutional. It is also a great word to use when you are upset with trivial things, like not getting the last pizza slice. Just say "I detest these absolutely abhorrent unconstitutionalities !" in a British accent and you will be more revered by the people around you. (Disclaimer: Probably not.)

V-valetudarianism Def: A sickly or weak person.

W-wrongheadedness Def: A stubborn and wrong viewpoint.

X-xenotransplantations Def: Multiple transplantations of plants on alien planets.

Y-yoctobecquerals Def: An extremely weak unit of radioactivity equal to $$10^{-24}$$

Z-zibaledibaleedoo Def: Zipping about rapidly. It is equal in letter length to "zenzizenzizenzic", which would be a more interesting word to a googologist, as it means the eigth power of a number. This word though has been obselete for a few centuries, but I always find an excuse to use it when I can.