Alternative forms

• pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcano-coniosis
• pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis
• P45

Etymology

Noun

1. A disease of the lungs, caused by inhaling mineral or metallic dust, such as silicon and quartzite. The silicates then lacerate the lining of the lungs, causing the victim to leak air from their lungs while simultaneously bleeding into their lung cavity.

Usage notes

• The Oxford English Dictionary lists pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis as “a factitious word alleged to mean ‘a lung disease caused by inhalation of very fine silica dust usually found in volcanos’ but occurring chiefly as an instance of a very long word”.

• This word was invented purely to be a contender for the title of the longest word in the English language, comprising forty-five letters. The word is not in official medical usage, and textbooks refer to this disease as pneumonoconiosis, pneumoconiosis, or silicosis.

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