BBC Home

Explore the BBC

h2g2
16th July 2009
Accessibility help
Text only

Guide ID: A590339 (Edited)

Edited Guide Entry


SEARCH h2g2
Edited Entries only
Search h2g2Advanced Search


New visitors: Create your membership
Returning members: Sign in
BBC Homepage
The Guide to Life, The Universe and Everything.

3. Everything / Languages & Linguistics / Word Wise

Created: 17th July 2001
Floccinaucinihilipilification
Contact Us


Like this page?
Send it to a friend!

 
FLOK-sih-noh-see-NEE-hee-lee-PEE-lih-fih-KAY-shun

The Oxford English Dictionary classifies it as 'humorous' and with 29 letters it's one of the longest words in the English language1. Moreover, unlike pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis2 and the actual longest word, which are highly scientific and specific, floccinaucinihilipilification can be used in everyday speech:

I loved him for nothing so much as his floccinaucinihilipilification of money.
- William Shenstone, Letters
They must be taken with an air of contempt, a floccinaucinihilipilification of all that can gratify the outward man.
- Sir Walter Scott, Journal
I note your distress at my floccinaucinihilipilification of the CTBT.
- US Senator, Jesse Helms, referring to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
Yes, my apparent floccinaucinihilipilification of both you and your canine companion was meant to be stupendously supercilious.
- Any Sesquipedalian Person3

But what does this strange and gigantic word mean? It's actually an aggregate of Latin forms.

  • 'flocci' is from the Latin floccus, which means 'fleece' and is related to the verb floccipendo which means, literally, 'to give the value of a bit of fleece' or 'to take lightly'.

  • 'nauci' is a word meaning 'few' or 'almost nothing'.

  • 'nihil', like in annihilation, is the Latin word for 'nothing'.

  • 'pili' is the plural form of the word pilus, the Latin word for 'small hair', but in this case meaning 'trifle'.

  • 'fica' is from the verb facio meaning 'to do' or 'to make'.

  • 'tion' is a standard English nominalisation form.

When put together, we get 'the making light of a few trifles of nothing'. Thus, the meaning of floccinaucinihilipilification becomes 'the act of estimating something as worthless'. Of course, the word can then be edited to form verbs, like floccinaucinihilipilificate, and adjectives, like floccinaucinihilipilificatious, or even other nouns, like floccinaucinihilipilificatism.


1 It's actually one letter longer than the next most commonly referred to long word, antidisestablishmentarianism, the ideology of being against the dissolution of the Church of England.
2 This is defined as a lung disease caused by the inhalation of very fine silica dust.
3 Literally, this is any person who uses words a foot-and-a-half long.


Clip/Bookmark this page
This article has not been bookmarked.
ENTRY DATA
Written and Researched by:

Lochinvar

Edited by:

Ashley

Referenced Entries:

The Longest Word
The Oxford English Dictionary
The Human Respiratory System

Referenced Sites:

William Shenstone

Please note that the BBC is not responsible for the content of any external sites listed.


CONVERSATION TOPICS FOR THIS ENTRY:

Start a new conversation

People have been talking about this Guide Entry. Here are the most recent Conversations:

TITLE
LATEST POST
I've never...Jan 30, 2009
antidisestablishmentarianismOct 14, 2007
Finally, a definition!Aug 21, 2002
I had a dreamDec 2, 2001
Long wordsJul 31, 2001
Definition of flocciJul 17, 2001




Disclaimer

Most of the content on h2g2 is created by h2g2's Researchers, who are members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those of the BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of any external sites referenced. In the event that you consider anything on this page to be in breach of the site's House Rules, please click here. For any other comments, please start a Conversation above.




About the BBC | Help | Terms of Use | Privacy & Cookies Policy