DID YOU KNOW THE LONGEST WORD IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE IS NOT SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS

What is the longest word in the English language, do you know? Despite how much fun it is to pronounce in song, it is not supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, as popular belief would have you believe. As a matter of fact, it comes in third place. Rather, the word itself is a lot less upbeat.

Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, a disease that results from breathing in tiny silicate or quartz dust particles, is the longest word in the English dictionary. The 45-letter word can be broken down into its constituent parts to determine its actual meaning; the prefix "pneumono" is derived from the ancient Greek word for lung.

The word's individual letters are derived from ancient Greek and Latin, as is fairly common, so people who studied these languages were adept at decoding the complex string of characters. Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis was, surprisingly, not even a recognised term at first. Everett M. Smith, the National Puzzlers' League president at the time, came up with the term in 1935, and it wasn't until a few years later that it was included in the dictionary. The term, however, refers to a very real condition, and it is occasionally used interchangeably with silicosis, an occupational disease that primarily affects stone workers and miners.

 You're not the only one who doesn't know how to pronounce pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis. Pronouncing the 19-syllable word can be very challenging, even for English native speakers. However, there's hope for you if you truly want to impress your inner circle with your language skills. The word is spelt phonetically as pneu-mo-no-ul-tra-mi-cro-scop-ic-si-li-co-vol-ca-no-co-ni-o-sis.

Are you wondering what other English words are the longest? Here are some additional lengthy terms for your list of vocabulary: Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism (30 letters), floccinaucinihilipilification (29 letters), hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia (36 letters), and antidisestablishmentarianism (28 letters).

Ironically, the fear of long words is actually embodied in one of these words: hippocopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia. Even though some of these words don't fit the criteria to be listed in the English dictionary, they are still significant. 

Click here to listen to how to pronounce the longest word in the English language.