請問全世界最長的英文是甚麼?

最長的英文單字，這似乎是個爭論不休的議題，可見單字的組成並不如想像中的簡單。英文可以依照造字規則建立新單字，所以常常有新的長單字建立；地名是其中一個，科技詞彙也很長。我們很難去界定它。 (注意：單字的長度指的是有幾個字母，而非發音或音節的長度。)

Major dictionaries
在主要的英文字典中，最長的單字是pneumonoultramicrosc opicsilicovolcanocon iosis，由45個字母組成，意思應該是一種肺部疾病， 矽肺病。but research has discovered that this word was originally intended as a hoax. It has since been used in a close approximation of its originally intended context, lending at least some degree of validity to its claim. See the separate article for details.

在1992年出版的Guinness Book of Records一書中，認為「真正最長的單字」應該是由29個字母組成的floccinaucinihilipil ification，意為「估計或評定一個東西為無價值」。記錄中這個用法，在1741年有使用過。而最近，這個用法記錄在美國參議院的會議記錄中，由羅伯˙拜爾 [1]說的，還有在白宮Bill Clinton's press secretary Mike McCurry。雖然很諷刺，這是牛津字典第一版中，最長的一個非科技專有名詞的單字。

在莎士比亞的作品中所出現最長的單字，是在迷失的愛 (Love's Labour's Lost)中的honorificabilitudini tatibus。這是一個很爭議的英文單字 (拉丁文亦是如此)，不過他還是用了。

雖然只有十四個字母，sesquipedalian也是個值得注意的字。一個羅馬作家賀瑞斯的作品：詩藝 (Ars Poetica)中用的"nonce word" (只用在特殊領域的特別字彙)所衍生出來的。原文如下："Proicit ampullas et sesquipedalia verba," which means, "He throws aside his paint pots and his words that are a foot and a half long". The Oxford English dictionary[2] lists sesquipedalianism ("the practice of using words one and a half feet long"), and further derivations can be created as described in the Constructions section below

新創單字
在古希臘的喜劇詩人阿里斯多芬尼斯的劇作Assemblywomen中，他創造了一個由183個字母組成的字：lopadotemachoselacho galeokranioleipsanod rimhypotrimmatosilph ioparaomelitokatakec hymenokichlepikos- syphophattoperistera lektryonoptekephalli okigklopeleiolagoios iraiosiraiobaphetrag anopterygon，形容a dish by stringing together its ingredients。

一位具有特色的作家詹姆斯·喬伊斯在他的小說芬尼根守靈夜 (Finnegans Wake)中，創造了九個100和一個101字母長的單字。最有名的是Bababadal­gharagh­takammin­arronn­konn­bronn­tonn­erronn­tuonn­thunn­trovarrhoun­awnskawn­toohoo­hoordenen­thurnuk。在它的第一頁，it allegedly is the symbolic thunderclap representing the fall of Adam and Eve. As this word appears nowhere else except in reference to this passage, it is generally not accepted as a real word. Sylvia Plath made mention to that word in her semi-autobiographica l novel The Bell Jar as Esther Greenwood, the protagonist, was reading Finnegans Wake.

一首出名的電影歡樂滿人間的電影歌歌名：Supercalifragilistic expialidocious有34個字母長，也有收錄在幾個字典中。不過這只是個專有名詞，and defined in reference to the song title. Hence it may well be dismissed as not a real word, particularly since the song assigns no meaning to it other than to say it's impressive.

Place names
There is some debate as to whether a place name is a legitimate word. However, the longest officially recognized place name in an English-speaking country is Taumatawhakatangihan gakoauauotamateapoka iwhenuakitanatahu (85 letters) which is a hill in New Zealand.

The longest place name in the United States (45 letters) is Chargoggagoggmanchau ggagoggchaubunagunga maugg, a lake in Webster, Massachusetts. This is incorrectly said to be Algonquin for "you fish your side of the water, I fish my side of the water, nobody fishes the middle". It actually means "Englishmen at Manchaug at the Fishing Place at the Boundary". The lake is known to Americans as Lake Webster. The longest hyphenated names in the U.S. are Winchester-on-the-Se vern, a town in Maryland, and Washington-on-the-Br azos, a notable place in Texas history

牛頓字典世界上最長的英文字--

1,913-letter

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OThers:

1) 【honorificabilitudinitatibus】
這個字是由27個字母組成的。出現在大文豪莎士比亞的劇本「空愛一場」(Love’s Labour’s Lost)裡，意思是「不勝光榮」。

2) 【antidisestablishmentarianism】
這個字是由28個字母組成的。根據范克和華格若爾斯編的「英語新標準辭」裡面的解釋，這個字的意思是「反對教會與國家分開學說」。他曾被英國首相格來斯頓 ﹝William Ewart Gladstone，1809-1898﹞引述過一次。


3) 【floccinaucinihilipipification】
這個字是由29個字母組成的，「牛津英文辭典」裡就有這個字，意思是「把某事的價值加以抹殺的行為或習慣」。

4) 【supercalifragilisticexpiadocious】
這個字是由34個字母組成的。出現在一部名叫Mary Poppins的電影裡，意思是「好」



5) 【hepaticocholecystostcholecystntenterostomy】
這個字是由40個字母組成的。出現在高德編的「醫學辭典」裏，為一個外科術語，亦即在膽囊與膽管之間或腸子與膽囊之間接人工管子的手術。

6) 【pneumonoultramicyoscpicailicovolcanoconiosis】
這個字是由45個字母組成的。出現在韋氏辭典第八版的版本中意思是「吸入矽酸鹽細末或石英岩灰而形成的肺塵埃沉著病」。礦工特別容易得這種病。



7) 【Antipericatametaanaparcircumvolutiorectumgustpoops】of the Coprofied
這個字是由50個字母組成的。有個圖書館的書架上，陳列著法國作家拉伯雷著的「葛甘塔和潘特古」故事系列。其中有一本，書名就是這個長長的英文字。

8) 【osseocaynisanguineoviscericartilagininervomedullary】
這個字是由51個字母組成的。它是人體構造一術語，曾出現在英國作家皮考克﹝Thomas Love Peacock,1785-1866﹞那本名叫Headlong Hall的小說中。



9) 【aequeosalinocalcalinoceraceoaluminosocupreovitriolie】
這個字是由52個字母組成的。它是英國醫學作者愛德華‧史特羅哲﹝Dr. Edward Strother，1675-1737﹞創造的字，專用來形容英格蘭格洛斯特夏布瑞斯陀這個地方的礦泉水成分。


10) 【lopadotemachoselachogaleokranioleipsanodrimhypotr- immatosilphioparaomelitokatakechymenokichlepikos-syphophattoperisteralektryo noptekephalliokigklopel- eiolagoiosiraiosiraiobaphetraganopterygon】


這個字是由182個字母組成的。它是從希臘字英譯過來的英文字，源出自希臘喜劇作家亞里斯多芬尼斯﹝Aristophanes,448?-385?﹞的劇本The Ecclesiazusae中。它是指由剩餘的菜和牛肉函煮而成的辣味食物。