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Longest word in English
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== Notable long words == === Place names ===<!-- This section is linked from [[Bangkok]]. --> {{Main|List of long place names}} [[File:New Zealand 0577.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The sign at [[Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu|{{not a typo|Taumata{{shy}}whakatangihanga{{shy}}koauau{{shy}}o{{shy}}tamatea{{shy}}turi{{shy}}pukaka{{shy}}piki{{shy}}maunga{{shy}}horo{{shy}}nuku{{shy}}pokai{{shy}}whenua{{shy}}ki{{shy}}tana{{shy}}tahu}}]]]] [[File:Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch station sign (cropped version 1).jpg|thumb|right|250px|The station sign at [[Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch|{{not a typo|Llan{{shy}}fair{{shy}}pwll{{shy}}gwyn{{shy}}gyll{{shy}}gogery{{shy}}chwyrn{{shy}}drob{{shy}}wlll{{shy}}lanty{{shy}}silio{{shy}}gogo{{shy}}goch}}]] in North [[Wales]]]] The longest officially recognized place name in an English-speaking country is [[Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu|{{not a typo|Taumata{{shy}}whakatangihanga{{shy}}koauau{{shy}}o{{shy}}tamatea{{shy}}turi{{shy}}pukaka{{shy}}piki{{shy}}maunga{{shy}}horo{{shy}}nuku{{shy}}pokai{{shy}}whenua{{shy}}ki{{shy}}tana{{shy}}tahu}}]] (85 letters), which is a hill in [[New Zealand]] (see the signpost photo on this page). The name is in the [[Māori language]]. There are several variant spellings of the name, including some that are longer. In Māori, the digraphs ''ng'' and ''wh'' are each treated as single letters. In [[Canada]], the longest place name is ''[[Dysart et al, Ontario|Dysart, Dudley, Harcourt, Guilford, Harburn, Bruton, Havelock, Eyre and Clyde]]'', a [[township]] in [[Ontario]], at 61 letters or 68 non-space characters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://geonames.nrcan.gc.ca/info/trivia_e.php |title=GeoNames Government of Canada site |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090206201115/http://geonames.nrcan.gc.ca/info/trivia_e.php |archive-date=2009-02-06 }}</ref> The 58-letter name ''[[Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch|Llan{{shy}}fair{{shy}}pwll{{shy}}gwyn{{shy}}gyll{{shy}}gogery{{shy}}chwyrn{{shy}}drob{{shy}}wlll{{shy}}lanty{{shy}}silio{{shy}}gogo{{shy}}goch]]'' is the name of a town on [[Anglesey]], an island of [[Wales]]. In terms of the traditional Welsh alphabet, the name is only 51 letters long, as certain digraphs in [[Welsh language|Welsh]] are considered as single letters, for instance ''ll'', ''ng'' and ''ch''. It is generally agreed, however, that this invented name, adopted in the mid-19th century, was contrived solely to be the longest name of any town in Britain. The official name of the place is ''Llanfairpwllgwyngyll'', commonly abbreviated to ''Llanfairpwll'' or ''Llanfair PG''. The longest non-contrived place name in the United Kingdom which is a single non-hyphenated word is [[Cottonshopeburnfoot]] (19 letters) and the longest which is hyphenated is [[Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe]] (29 characters). The longest place name in the United States (45 letters) is ''{{not a typo|[[Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg|Char{{shy}}gogga{{shy}}gogg{{shy}}man{{shy}}chau{{shy}}ggagogg{{shy}}chau{{shy}}buna{{shy}}gunga{{shy}}maugg]]}}'', a lake in [[Webster, Massachusetts|Webster]], [[Massachusetts]]. It means "Fishing Place at the Boundaries – Neutral Meeting Grounds" and is sometimes facetiously translated as "you fish your side of the water, I fish my side of the water, nobody fishes the middle". The lake is also known as Webster Lake.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/20/national/20lake.html | work=The New York Times | first=Pam | last=Belluck | title=What's the Name of That Lake? It's Hard to Say | date=2004-11-20}}</ref> The longest hyphenated names in the U.S. are ''[[Winchester-on-the-Severn]]'', a town in [[Maryland]], and ''[[Washington-on-the-Brazos]]'', a notable place in [[Texas]] history. The longest single-word town names in the U.S. are [[Kleinfeltersville, Pennsylvania]] and [[Mooselookmeguntic, Maine]]. The longest official geographical name in Australia is [[Mamungkukumpurangkuntjunya Hill|{{not a typo|Ma{{shy}}mungku{{shy}}kumpu{{shy}}rang{{shy}}kunt{{shy}}junya}}]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ga.gov.au/bin/gazd01?rec=204304 |title=Geoscience Australia Gazetteer |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001005330/http://www.ga.gov.au/bin/gazd01?rec=204304 |archive-date=2007-10-01 }}</ref> It has 26 letters and is a [[Pitjantjatjara language|Pitjantjatjara]] word meaning "where [[the Devil]] urinates".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.placenames.sa.gov.au/pno/pnores.phtml?recno=SA0078626 |title=South Australian State Gazetteer |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001000850/http://www.placenames.sa.gov.au/pno/pnores.phtml?recno=SA0078626 |archive-date=2007-10-01 }}</ref> [[Liechtenstein]] is the longest single-word country name in English, and the second-longest is [[Turkmenistan]]. {{See also|List of short place names}} === Personal names === ''[[Guinness World Records]]'' formerly contained a category for longest [[personal name]] used. * From about 1975 to 1985, the recordholder was Adolph Blaine Charles David Earl Frederick Gerald Hubert Irvin John Kenneth Lloyd Martin Nero Oliver Paul Quincy Randolph Sherman Thomas Uncas Victor William Xerxes Yancy Zeus {{not a typo|Wolfe{{shy}}schlegelstein{{shy}}hausenberger{{shy}}dorffvoraltern{{shy}}waren{{shy}}gewissenhaft{{shy}}schaferswessen{{shy}}schafewaren{{shy}}wohlgepflege{{shy}}und{{shy}}sorgfaltigkeit{{shy}}beschutzen{{shy}}von{{shy}}angreifen{{shy}}durch{{shy}}ihrraubgierigfeinde{{shy}}welche{{shy}}voraltern{{shy}}zwolftausend{{shy}}jahres{{shy}}vorandieerscheinen{{shy}}wander{{shy}}ersteer{{shy}}dem{{shy}}enschderraumschiff{{shy}}gebrauchlicht{{shy}}als{{shy}}sein{{shy}}ursprung{{shy}}von{{shy}}kraftgestart{{shy}}sein{{shy}}lange{{shy}}fahrt{{shy}}hinzwischen{{shy}}sternartigraum{{shy}}auf{{shy}}der{{shy}}suchenach{{shy}}diestern{{shy}}welche{{shy}}gehabt{{shy}}bewohnbar{{shy}}planeten{{shy}}kreise{{shy}}drehen{{shy}}sich{{shy}}und{{shy}}wohin{{shy}}der{{shy}}neurasse{{shy}}von{{shy}}verstandigmen{{shy}}schlichkeit{{shy}}konnte{{shy}}fortplanzen{{shy}}und{{shy}}sicher{{shy}}freuen{{shy}}anlebens{{shy}}langlich{{shy}}freude{{shy}}und{{shy}}ruhe{{shy}}mit{{shy}}nicht{{shy}}ein{{shy}}furcht{{shy}}vor{{shy}}angreifen{{shy}}von{{shy}}anderer{{shy}}intelligent{{shy}}geschopfs{{shy}}von{{shy}}hinzwischen{{shy}}sternartigraum,}} Senior (746 letters), also known as [[Hubert Blaine Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff Sr.|Wolfe+585, Senior]]. * After 1985 Guinness briefly awarded the record to a newborn girl with a longer name. The category was removed shortly afterward. Long birth names are often coined in protest of naming laws or for other personal reasons. * The [[naming law in Sweden]] was challenged by parents Lasse Diding and Elisabeth Hallin, who proposed the given name "Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116" for their child (pronounced {{IPA|sv|ˈǎlːbɪn|}}, 43 characters), which was rejected by a [[district court]] in [[Halmstad]], southern Sweden. === Words with certain characteristics of notable length === {{original research|section|date=August 2017}} {{Main|List of the longest English words with one syllable}} * ''Schmaltzed'' and ''strengthed'' (10 letters) appear to be the longest [[monosyllabic]] words recorded in ''[[The Oxford English Dictionary]]'', while ''scraunched'' and ''scroonched'' appear to be the longest [[monosyllabic]] words recorded in ''[[Webster's Third New International Dictionary]]''; but ''squirrelled'' (11 letters) is the longest if pronounced as one syllable only (as permitted in ''The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary'' and ''[[Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary]]'' at ''squirrel'', and in ''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''). ''Schtroumpfed'' (12 letters) was coined by [[Umberto Eco]], while ''broughammed'' (11 letters) was coined by [[William Harmon]] after ''broughamed'' (10 letters) was coined by [[George Bernard Shaw]]. * ''Strengths'' is the longest word in the English language containing only one vowel letter.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/longest-word-in-the-english-language-with-only-one-vowel/| title = Guinness Records}}</ref> * ''[[Euouae]]'', a [[medieval]] musical term, is the longest English word consisting only of vowels, and the word with the most consecutive vowels. However, the "word" itself is simply a [[mnemonic]] consisting of the vowels to be sung in the phrase "seculorum Amen" at the end of the [[doxology|lesser doxology]]. (Although ''u'' was often used interchangeably with ''v'', and the variant "Evovae" is occasionally used, the ''v'' in these cases would still be a vowel.) * The [[longest word]]s with [[isogram|no repeated letters]] are ''subdermatoglyphic'', ''dermatoglyphics'', and ''uncopyrightable''.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://riddlesbrainteasers.com/longest-word-without-repeating-letters/| title = Longest Word Without Repeating Letters| date = December 2014}}</ref> * The longest word whose letters are in alphabetical order is the eight-letter ''[[Aegilops]]'', a grass genus. However, this is arguably a [[proper noun]]. There are several six-letter English words with their letters in alphabetical order, including ''abhors'', ''almost'', ''begins'', ''biopsy'', ''chimps'' and ''chintz''.<ref name="typewriter" /> There are few 7-letter words, such as "billowy" and "beefily". The longest words whose letters are in reverse alphabetical order are ''sponged'', ''wronged'' and ''trollied''. * The longest word without any of the main five vowels but including Y: ''Twyndyllyng''.{{Main|English words without vowels}} * The longest words recorded in OED with each vowel only once, and in order, are ''abstemiously'', ''affectiously'', and ''{{not a typo|tragediously}}'' (OED). ''Fracedinously'' and ''gravedinously'' (constructed from adjectives in OED) have thirteen letters; ''Gadspreciously'', constructed from ''Gadsprecious'' (in OED), has fourteen letters. ''Facetiously'' is among the few other words directly attested in OED with single occurrences of all six vowels (counting ''y'' as a vowel). * The longest word without [[Descender|descenders]] or [[Ascender (typography)|ascenders]] is ''overnumerousnesses''. * The longest single [[Palindrome|palindromic]] word in English is ''rotavator'', another name for a [[rotary tiller]] for breaking and aerating soil. ==== Typed words ==== * The longest words typable with only the left hand using conventional hand placement on a [[QWERTY]] keyboard are ''[[wikt:tesseradecade|tesseradecades]]'', ''[[wikt:aftercataracts|aftercataracts]]'', ''[[wikt:dereverberated|dereverberated]]'', ''[[wikt:dereverberates|dereverberates]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sciencelinks.jp/j-east/article/200319/000020031903A0436636.php |title=Science Links Japan | Two Unique Aftercataracts Requiring Surgical Removal |publisher=Sciencelinks.jp |date=2009-03-18 |access-date=2010-08-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110217081656/http://sciencelinks.jp/j-east/article/200319/000020031903A0436636.php |archive-date=2011-02-17 }}</ref> and the more common but sometimes hyphenated ''sweaterdresses''.<ref name="typewriter">{{cite web |url=http://www.questrel.com/records.html#spelling_typewriter_order |title=Typewriter Words |publisher=Questrel.com |access-date=2010-08-22 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100927071605/http://www.questrel.com/records.html#spelling_typewriter_order |archive-date=2010-09-27 }}</ref> Using the right hand alone, the longest word that can be typed is ''[[Heartsease|johnny-jump-up]]'', or, excluding [[hyphen]]s, ''monimolimnion''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O13-monimolimnion.html?jse=0|title=Dictionary entry for monimolimnion, a word that, at 13 letters, is longer than any of the words linked in the source above|access-date=2009-08-15|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090909214139/http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O13-monimolimnion.html?jse=0|archive-date=2009-09-09}}</ref> and ''phyllophyllin''. * The longest English word typable using only the top row of letters has 11 letters: ''[[rupturewort]]''. The word ''[[seesaw|teetertotter]]'' (used in [[North American English]]) is longer at 12 letters, although it is usually spelled with a hyphen. * The longest using only the middle row is ''shakalshas'' (10 letters). Nine-letter words include ''flagfalls''; eight-letter words include ''galahads'' and ''alfalfas''. * Since the bottom row contains no vowels, no standard words can be formed.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fun-with-words.com/word_records.html |title=Word Records |publisher=Fun-with-words.com |access-date=2012-08-13 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120826081140/http://www.fun-with-words.com/word_records.html |archive-date=2012-08-26 }}</ref> * The longest word typable by alternating left and right hands is ''antiskepticism''.<ref name="typewriter" /> * On a [[Dvorak Simplified Keyboard|Dvorak]] keyboard, the longest "left-handed" words are ''epopoeia'', ''[[Jipijapa (disambiguation)|jipijapa]]'', ''[[peekapoo]]'', and ''quiaquia''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wordnik.com/lists/typewriter-words/ |title=Typewriter Words |publisher=Wordnik.com |access-date=2011-01-15 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717053017/http://www.wordnik.com/lists/typewriter-words/ |archive-date=2011-07-17 }}</ref> Other such long words are ''[[papaya]]'', ''[[wikt:Kikuyu|Kikuyu]]'', ''opaque'', and ''upkeep''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theworldofstuff.com/dvorak/ |title=The Dvorak Keyboard and You |publisher=Theworldofstuff.com |access-date=2010-08-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100820154431/http://www.theworldofstuff.com/dvorak/ |archive-date=2010-08-20 }}</ref> ''Kikuyu'' is typed entirely with the index finger, and so the longest one-fingered word on the Dvorak keyboard. There are no vowels on the right-hand side, and so the longest "right-handed" word is [[crwth]]s. * The word that has the most consecutive letters that are shared on a [[Telephone keypad|phone keyboard]] is ''[[Non-monotonic_logic|nonmonotonic]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://what-if.xkcd.com/75/|title=Phone Keypad|publisher=What-if.xkcd.com|access-date=2025-01-17|url-status=live}}</ref>
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