A quick Yahoo! search on “longest word in English language” led me to this page from the Oxford Dictionary. The language enthusiasts listed a slew of candidates for the longest word in the English language. Some contenders: radioimmunoelectrophoresis (length: 26 letters; definition: no clue, but probably something medical), floccinaucinihilipilification (29 letters; “the estimation of something as valueless“), and antidisestablishmentarianism (28 letters; “opposition to the withdrawal of state support or recognition from an established church“).
All hilariously long words, but according to the Oxford Dictionary, one word trumps ‘em all: the little used “pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.” That’s 45 letters, kids. Dictionary.com explains that it refers to “a lung disease caused by silica dust.” The word is, thankfully, quite obscure, so some might argue that it doesn’t count. However, Oxford explains that the word (which I refuse to re-type) is included in its dictionaries. So, I say the title belongs to it.
And there you have it.
I honestly have never heard that word in my life, although looking at it, I don’t even know how one would even pronounce it anyway.