ANTIDISESTABLISHMENTARIANISM

Posted by Bruce Kahl on February 16, 2000

In Reply to: Meaning of word? posted by Kareim Kambisambabway on February 16, 2000

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: Does anyone know exactly what "Disestablishmentarainism" means? Is it the longest english word?

ANTIDISESTABLISHMENTARIANISM (28 letters) may be the best-known long word. The word means "the belief which opposes removing the tie between church and state."

PNEUMONOULTRAMICROSCOPICSILICOVOLCANOCONIOSIS (45 letters; a lung disease caused by breathing in certain particles) is the longest word in any English-language dictionary. (It is also spelled -koniosis.)