pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (English, noun)
Pronunciation: tags: Received-Pronunciation
ipa: /ˌnjuːmə.nəʊ.ʌl.tɹə.maɪ.kɹəʊˌskɒ.pɪkˌsɪ.lɪ.kəʊ.vɒl.keɪ.nəʊ.kəʊ.niˈəʊ.sɪs/
tags: General-American
enpr: no͞o-män'ō-ŭl-trə-mī-krə-skäpʹĭk-sĭl'ē-kō-väl-kā-nō-kō-nē-ōʹsĭs
ipa: /nuˌmɑ.noʊ.ʌl.tɹə.maɪ.kɹoʊˈskɑ.pɪkˌsɪ.lɪ.koʊ.vɑl.keɪ.noʊ.koʊ.niˈoʊ.sɪs/
tags: General-American
rhymes: -əʊsɪs
Etymology: Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *plew-
Proto-Indo-European *-mṓ
Proto-Indo-European *pléwmō
Ancient Greek πλεύμων (pleúmōn)
Proto-Indo-European *pnew-
Ancient Greek πνέω (pnéō)influ.
Proto-Indo-European *pnew-
Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥
Proto-Indo-European *pnéwmn̥
Ancient Greek πνεῦμα (pneûma)influ.
Ancient Greek πνεύμων (pneúmōn)bor.
English pneumono-
Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-
Latin ūls
Proto-Indo-European *-teros?
Latin -ter
Latin -ā
Latin ultrālbor.
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-Hellenic *-os
Ancient Greek -ος (-os)
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 *-yós
Old Latin -ios
Latin -ius
Latin -ium
Latin mīcroscopiumlbor.
Italian microscopiobor.
English microscope
Proto-Italic *-kos
Latin -cus
Latin -icuslbor.
Old French -iquebor.
Middle English -ik
English -ic
English microscopic
English silico-
English volcano
English coniosis
English pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
Coined by puzzle designer Everett Smith, President of the National Puzzlers' League, at their convention in 1935 as a deliberately long word. From pneumono- (“lung”) + ultra- (“beyond”) + microscopic + silico- + volcano + coniosis (“dust”), as an extension of the medical term pneumonoconiosis.
Definitions: examples: text: Call it miner's asthma, silicosis, pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, coal workers' pneumoconiosis, or black lung—they are all dust diseases with the same symptoms.
ref: 1980 March, Lorin E. Kerr, “Black Lung”, in Journal of Public Health Policy, volume 1, number 1, →JSTOR, page 50:
type: quote
bold_text_offsets: 35
80
text: I say that it must be the silica dust
That we breathed through our mouths and our noses
That brought pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.
ref: 1998 August 27, Smokey, “Lament for a Lung Disease”, in talk.bizarre (Usenet), message-ID <6s3r8o$brt$1@camel15.mindspring.com>:
type: quote
bold_text_offsets: 101
146
text: It's either pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, or a bad cough.
ref: 2002 December 18, Pod, “Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis”, in alt.fan.scarecrow (Usenet), message-ID <iHSL9.2091$h43.295898@stones>:
type: quote
bold_text_offsets: 12
57
text: 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.
ref: 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:
type: quote
bold_text_offsets: 96
141
text: 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.
ref: 2017 July 31, Michael Bryan, quotee, “Boy, 16, uses 'longest word' in Parliament”, in BBC News, archived from the original on 2017-08-03:
type: quote
bold_text_offsets: 177
222
glosses: A disease of the lungs, allegedly caused by inhaling microscopic silicate particles originating from the eruption of a volcano.
tags: nonce-word
uncountable
wikipedia: National Puzzlers' League
Forms: form: pneumono­ultra­microscopic­silico­volcano­koniosis
tags: alternative
form: pneumon­ultra­microscopic­silico­volcano­coniosis
tags: alternative
Hypernyms: pneumoconiosis
silicosis
Coordinate terms: black lung
potter's rot
miner's cough