What is the longest word in history?
Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is, according to
the Oxford English Dictionary, "a factitious word alleged to mean
'a lung disease caused by the inhalation of very fine silica dust,
causing inflammation in the lungs.'" A condition meeting the word's
definition is normally called silicosis.
The 45-letter word is the longest word ever to appear in an
English language dictionary and is listed in the current edition of
several dictionaries.
Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis succeeded
electrophotomicrographically as the longest word in the English
language.