pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis

• pneumono­ultra­microscopic­silico­volcano­koniosis
• pneumon­ultra­microscopic­silico­volcano­coniosis

Coined by Everett K Smith, President of the National Puzzlers' League, at their convention in 1935. From Ancient Greek πνεύμων (pneúmōn, “lung”) + Latin ultra (“beyond”) + English microscopic + silico- + volcano + Ancient Greek κόνις (kónis, “dust”) + English -osis, as an extension of the medical term pneumonoconiosis.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /njuːˌmɒ.nəʊ.ʌl.tɹə.maɪ.kɹəʊˈskɒ.pɪkˌsɪ.lɪ.kəʊ.vɒl.keɪ.nəʊ.kəʊ.niˈəʊ.sɪs/;[1]
• (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.keɪ.noʊ.koʊ.niˈoʊ.sɪs/;

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• Rhymes: -əʊsɪs
• Hyphenation: pneu‧mo‧no‧ul‧tra‧mi‧cro‧sco‧pic‧si‧li‧co‧vol‧ca‧no‧co‧ni‧o‧sis

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 (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 (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.

• 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, the dictionary lists it 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]

For more quotations using this term, see Citations:pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.

• pneumoconiosis
• silicosis

• black lung
• potter's rot
• miner's cough