Antidisestablishmentarianism (word)

The English word antidisestablishmentarianism (/ˌæntidɪsɪˌstæblɪʃmənˈtɛəriənɪzm/ (listen), also /-dɪsəs-/, US also /ˌæntaɪ-/ (listen)) is notable for its unusual length of 28 letters and 12 syllables, and is one of the longest words in the English language.^[1] It has been cited as the longest word in the English language (excluding coined and technical terms), although some dictionaries do not recognize it because of its low usage in everyday lexicon.^[2] The longest word found in a major dictionary is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, but this is a technical term that was coined specifically to be the longest word.^[1][3][4]

The word became known in the public realm in the United States via a popular television show in the 1950s, The $64,000 Question, when a young contestant correctly spelled it to win. A slightly longer but less commonly accepted variant can be found in the Duke Ellington song "You're Just an Old Antidisestablishmentarianismist".^[5]

Meaning[]

Antidisestablishmentarianism is a political position that originated in 19th century Britain. The position opposed proposals at that time to remove the Anglican Church's status as the established church of England, Ireland, and Wales, but not in Scotland, which had and still has its own separate national church.^[6]

Recognition[]

There is varied recognition of antidisestablishmentarism among major English dictionaries. Merriam Webster notably does not recognize the word due to practically no use in the modern era, although they do include disestablishmentarism and antiestablishmentarism.^[7][8]

The American Heritage,^[9] Chambers,^[10] and Oxford English^[11] similarly exclude antidisestablishmentarism, but keep smaller variations.

Dictionaries that do include the word are the Cambridge Dictionary,^[12] Collins English,^[13] and Dictionary.com.^[14]

Construction of the word[]

The word construction is as follows (succeeded by the number of letters in the word):

establish (9)

to set up, put in place, or institute (originally from the Latin stare, to stand)

dis-establish (12)

to end the established status of a body, in particular a church, given such status by law, such as the Church of England

disestablish-ment (16)

the separation of church and state (specifically, the goal of the political movement of the 1860s in Britain)

disestablishment-arian (21)

one who subscribes to said movement

anti-disestablishmentarian (25)

one who opposes said movement

antidisestablishmentarian-ism (28)

the movement or ideology that opposes disestablishment

The word construction could be lengthened further in many ways, for example:

antidisestablishmentarian-istically (34)

doing something with antidisestablishmentarian intentions.

See also[]

• Longest word in English
• Nominalizations in English

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

Look up antidisestablishmentarianism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.