Abstract

Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis () is a word invented by the president of the National Puzzlers' League as a synonym for the disease known as silicosis. It is the longest word in the English language published in a dictionary, the "Oxford English Dictionary", which defines it as "an artificial long word said to mean a lung disease caused by inhaling very fine ash and sand dust."

Silicosis is a form of occupational lung disease caused by inhalation of crystalline silica dust, and is marked by inflammation and scarring in the form of nodular lesions in the upper lobes of the lungs. It is a type of pneumoconiosis.

Etymology

This word was invented at the annual meeting of the National Puzzlers' League (N.P.L.) by its president Everett M. Smith. The word featured in the headline for an article published by the "New York Herald Tribune" on February 23, 1935, titled "Puzzlers Open 103rd Session Here by Recognizing 45-Letter Word":

Subsequently, the word was used in a puzzle book, "Bedside Manna", after which time, members of the N.P.L. campaigned to include the word in major dictionaries.

This 45-letter word, referred to as "P45", first appeared in the 1939 supplement to the "Merriam-Webster New International Dictionary, Second Edition".

In popular culture

On 14 July 2017, sixteen-year-old Michael Bryan used the word during a Youth Select Committee meeting of the UK Youth Parliament to highlight the "grave inconsistency" of addressing health conditions, with physical problems given greater precedent than mental health issues. It did not become the longest word ever printed in "Hansard", the official record, because it occurred during a Youth Select Committee meeting, which is not an official parliamentary proceeding.

American songwriter Tim Siler used the word as the basis for a song of the same name.