Which are the longest words in Latin?
up vote
7
down vote
favorite
Today I was reading 1 Samuel 5 in the Vulgata and in verse 9 these two words are found:
... circumducentibus ... computrescebant ...
which surprised me for their length (16 and 15 letters respectively). So, which are the longest, attested words in Latin? Is Honorificabilitudinitatibus the longest? (27 letters...horrible word, btw) Which are other examples of very long (say, +25 letters) words?
text-corpus
asked 2 days ago
luchonacho
4,13331048
|
show 1 more comment
up vote
7
down vote
favorite
Today I was reading 1 Samuel 5 in the Vulgata and in verse 9 these two words are found:
... circumducentibus ... computrescebant ...
which surprised me for their length (16 and 15 letters respectively). So, which are the longest, attested words in Latin? Is Honorificabilitudinitatibus the longest? (27 letters...horrible word, btw) Which are other examples of very long (say, +25 letters) words?
text-corpus
asked 2 days ago
luchonacho
4,13331048
1
Are you looking for attested words, or are we free to coin new words? In principle one can derive without limits.
– Joonas Ilmavirta♦
2 days ago
@JoonasIlmavirta Attested words, for sure. I was not aware you could create your own words. Looks like an interesting question itself.
– luchonacho
2 days ago
2
You can indeed create your own words using existing words and a toolbox of new elements you can add. You can certainly ask a question about that. If you are only looking for attested words here (you could specify that in the question), I won't give an answer about extending words more or less artificially.
– Joonas Ilmavirta♦
2 days ago
@JoonasIlmavirta But the fact I can put together words does not mean it becomes an official word. Maybe that's how all words end up being official in the long term (i.e. by someone using them and hanging around), but that's a separated issue.
– luchonacho
2 days ago
2
Aristophanes went a little too far in deriving a new word. Greek is somewhat more flexible with compound words than Latin, though.
– Joonas Ilmavirta♦
2 days ago
|
show 1 more comment
up vote
7
down vote
favorite
up vote
7
down vote
favorite
Today I was reading 1 Samuel 5 in the Vulgata and in verse 9 these two words are found:
... circumducentibus ... computrescebant ...
which surprised me for their length (16 and 15 letters respectively). So, which are the longest, attested words in Latin? Is Honorificabilitudinitatibus the longest? (27 letters...horrible word, btw) Which are other examples of very long (say, +25 letters) words?
text-corpus
asked 2 days ago
luchonacho
4,13331048
Today I was reading 1 Samuel 5 in the Vulgata and in verse 9 these two words are found:
... circumducentibus ... computrescebant ...
which surprised me for their length (16 and 15 letters respectively). So, which are the longest, attested words in Latin? Is Honorificabilitudinitatibus the longest? (27 letters...horrible word, btw) Which are other examples of very long (say, +25 letters) words?
text-corpus
text-corpus
asked 2 days ago
luchonacho
4,13331048
asked 2 days ago
luchonacho
4,13331048
edited 2 days ago
asked 2 days ago
luchonacho
4,13331048
asked 2 days ago
luchonacho
4,13331048
asked 2 days ago
luchonacho
4,13331048
4,13331048
1
Are you looking for attested words, or are we free to coin new words? In principle one can derive without limits.
– Joonas Ilmavirta♦
2 days ago
@JoonasIlmavirta Attested words, for sure. I was not aware you could create your own words. Looks like an interesting question itself.
– luchonacho
2 days ago
2
You can indeed create your own words using existing words and a toolbox of new elements you can add. You can certainly ask a question about that. If you are only looking for attested words here (you could specify that in the question), I won't give an answer about extending words more or less artificially.
– Joonas Ilmavirta♦
2 days ago
@JoonasIlmavirta But the fact I can put together words does not mean it becomes an official word. Maybe that's how all words end up being official in the long term (i.e. by someone using them and hanging around), but that's a separated issue.
– luchonacho
2 days ago
2
Aristophanes went a little too far in deriving a new word. Greek is somewhat more flexible with compound words than Latin, though.
– Joonas Ilmavirta♦
2 days ago
|
show 1 more comment
1
Are you looking for attested words, or are we free to coin new words? In principle one can derive without limits.
– Joonas Ilmavirta♦
2 days ago
@JoonasIlmavirta Attested words, for sure. I was not aware you could create your own words. Looks like an interesting question itself.
– luchonacho
2 days ago
2
You can indeed create your own words using existing words and a toolbox of new elements you can add. You can certainly ask a question about that. If you are only looking for attested words here (you could specify that in the question), I won't give an answer about extending words more or less artificially.
– Joonas Ilmavirta♦
2 days ago
@JoonasIlmavirta But the fact I can put together words does not mean it becomes an official word. Maybe that's how all words end up being official in the long term (i.e. by someone using them and hanging around), but that's a separated issue.
– luchonacho
2 days ago
2
Aristophanes went a little too far in deriving a new word. Greek is somewhat more flexible with compound words than Latin, though.
– Joonas Ilmavirta♦
2 days ago
1
1
Are you looking for attested words, or are we free to coin new words? In principle one can derive without limits.
– Joonas Ilmavirta♦
2 days ago
Are you looking for attested words, or are we free to coin new words? In principle one can derive without limits.
– Joonas Ilmavirta♦
2 days ago
@JoonasIlmavirta Attested words, for sure. I was not aware you could create your own words. Looks like an interesting question itself.
– luchonacho
2 days ago
@JoonasIlmavirta Attested words, for sure. I was not aware you could create your own words. Looks like an interesting question itself.
– luchonacho
2 days ago
2
2
You can indeed create your own words using existing words and a toolbox of new elements you can add. You can certainly ask a question about that. If you are only looking for attested words here (you could specify that in the question), I won't give an answer about extending words more or less artificially.
– Joonas Ilmavirta♦
2 days ago
You can indeed create your own words using existing words and a toolbox of new elements you can add. You can certainly ask a question about that. If you are only looking for attested words here (you could specify that in the question), I won't give an answer about extending words more or less artificially.
– Joonas Ilmavirta♦
2 days ago
@JoonasIlmavirta But the fact I can put together words does not mean it becomes an official word. Maybe that's how all words end up being official in the long term (i.e. by someone using them and hanging around), but that's a separated issue.
– luchonacho
2 days ago
@JoonasIlmavirta But the fact I can put together words does not mean it becomes an official word. Maybe that's how all words end up being official in the long term (i.e. by someone using them and hanging around), but that's a separated issue.
– luchonacho
2 days ago
2
2
Aristophanes went a little too far in deriving a new word. Greek is somewhat more flexible with compound words than Latin, though.
– Joonas Ilmavirta♦
2 days ago
Aristophanes went a little too far in deriving a new word. Greek is somewhat more flexible with compound words than Latin, though.
– Joonas Ilmavirta♦
2 days ago
|
show 1 more comment
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
up vote
9
down vote
Your word, honorificabilitudinitatibus, seems to be commonly regarded as the longest, and it has the distinction of being used by Shakespeare.
However, there's also this one with 28 letters:
floccinaucinihilipilificatio,
which is the action or habit of estimating something as worthless.
Although the latter is longer by one letter, it was coined by students at Eton College as a humorous word. It can be broken down as follows:
floccus (“a wisp”) + naucum (“a trifle”) + nihilum (“nothing”) + pilus (“a hair”) + ficatio
Given that floccinaucinihilipilificatio is of late coinage, I believe that honorificabilitudinitatibus is most likely the winner. Besides being used by Shakespeare, it wasn't coined by him. Rather, it appeared long before his day, such as in the following dictionary entry by Johannes Balbus in 1286:
answered 2 days ago
Expedito Bipes
1,8981311
2
But wait.... the word you mention is an English word. Sure, it's composed of Latin terms, but it seems it's never been used in a Latin context. Maybe the one I mentioned hasn't been either!
– luchonacho
2 days ago
2
Brilliant find, EB.
– Hugh
2 days ago
2
To be more accurate, Shakespeare didn't use it, he mentioned it. Or, to put it another way, he used it not to express a meaning, but to put into the mouth of the character Costard in Love's Labour's Lost, for him to cite it as a very long word (again, not to express a meaning). The Balbus is, as you say, a dictionary entry, so he cites the word just to define it, not to use it. And where Balbus spells its -ibus form in full, is this merely to cite it as a very long (longissima) word? What's the longest attested Latin word used to express its meaning, not just cited for its length?
– Rosie F
2 days ago
1
@RosieF. Either way, we agree that Shakespeare used it. I'm fine with that.
– Expedito Bipes
2 days ago
2
@ExpeditoBipes Please don't misrepresent me. Read my earlier comment's first two sentences in full, rather than taking a few words from them out of context.
– Rosie F
2 days ago
|
show 4 more comments
up vote
2
down vote
First of all, with all due respect, this word is not Classical Latin; it’s a Medieval Latin neologism (a nonce word) that was occasionally used solely because of its length.
Secondly, honorificabilitudinitatibus is technically a word form, not a word (i.e. it’s not a lexeme).
Afaik, it is first encountered in a treatise written by Peter of Pisa, an eighth century Italian grammarian, who, incidentally, taught Latin to Charlemagne.
Here’s the screenshot:
answered 2 days ago
Alex B.
7,67411327
add a comment |
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
9
down vote
Your word, honorificabilitudinitatibus, seems to be commonly regarded as the longest, and it has the distinction of being used by Shakespeare.
However, there's also this one with 28 letters:
floccinaucinihilipilificatio,
which is the action or habit of estimating something as worthless.
Although the latter is longer by one letter, it was coined by students at Eton College as a humorous word. It can be broken down as follows:
floccus (“a wisp”) + naucum (“a trifle”) + nihilum (“nothing”) + pilus (“a hair”) + ficatio
Given that floccinaucinihilipilificatio is of late coinage, I believe that honorificabilitudinitatibus is most likely the winner. Besides being used by Shakespeare, it wasn't coined by him. Rather, it appeared long before his day, such as in the following dictionary entry by Johannes Balbus in 1286:
answered 2 days ago
Expedito Bipes
1,8981311
2
But wait.... the word you mention is an English word. Sure, it's composed of Latin terms, but it seems it's never been used in a Latin context. Maybe the one I mentioned hasn't been either!
– luchonacho
2 days ago
2
Brilliant find, EB.
– Hugh
2 days ago
2
To be more accurate, Shakespeare didn't use it, he mentioned it. Or, to put it another way, he used it not to express a meaning, but to put into the mouth of the character Costard in Love's Labour's Lost, for him to cite it as a very long word (again, not to express a meaning). The Balbus is, as you say, a dictionary entry, so he cites the word just to define it, not to use it. And where Balbus spells its -ibus form in full, is this merely to cite it as a very long (longissima) word? What's the longest attested Latin word used to express its meaning, not just cited for its length?
– Rosie F
2 days ago
1
@RosieF. Either way, we agree that Shakespeare used it. I'm fine with that.
– Expedito Bipes
2 days ago
2
@ExpeditoBipes Please don't misrepresent me. Read my earlier comment's first two sentences in full, rather than taking a few words from them out of context.
– Rosie F
2 days ago
|
show 4 more comments
up vote
9
down vote
Your word, honorificabilitudinitatibus, seems to be commonly regarded as the longest, and it has the distinction of being used by Shakespeare.
However, there's also this one with 28 letters:
floccinaucinihilipilificatio,
which is the action or habit of estimating something as worthless.
Although the latter is longer by one letter, it was coined by students at Eton College as a humorous word. It can be broken down as follows:
floccus (“a wisp”) + naucum (“a trifle”) + nihilum (“nothing”) + pilus (“a hair”) + ficatio
Given that floccinaucinihilipilificatio is of late coinage, I believe that honorificabilitudinitatibus is most likely the winner. Besides being used by Shakespeare, it wasn't coined by him. Rather, it appeared long before his day, such as in the following dictionary entry by Johannes Balbus in 1286:
answered 2 days ago
Expedito Bipes
1,8981311
2
But wait.... the word you mention is an English word. Sure, it's composed of Latin terms, but it seems it's never been used in a Latin context. Maybe the one I mentioned hasn't been either!
– luchonacho
2 days ago
2
Brilliant find, EB.
– Hugh
2 days ago
2
To be more accurate, Shakespeare didn't use it, he mentioned it. Or, to put it another way, he used it not to express a meaning, but to put into the mouth of the character Costard in Love's Labour's Lost, for him to cite it as a very long word (again, not to express a meaning). The Balbus is, as you say, a dictionary entry, so he cites the word just to define it, not to use it. And where Balbus spells its -ibus form in full, is this merely to cite it as a very long (longissima) word? What's the longest attested Latin word used to express its meaning, not just cited for its length?
– Rosie F
2 days ago
1
@RosieF. Either way, we agree that Shakespeare used it. I'm fine with that.
– Expedito Bipes
2 days ago
2
@ExpeditoBipes Please don't misrepresent me. Read my earlier comment's first two sentences in full, rather than taking a few words from them out of context.
– Rosie F
2 days ago
|
show 4 more comments
up vote
9
down vote
up vote
9
down vote
Your word, honorificabilitudinitatibus, seems to be commonly regarded as the longest, and it has the distinction of being used by Shakespeare.
However, there's also this one with 28 letters:
floccinaucinihilipilificatio,
which is the action or habit of estimating something as worthless.
Although the latter is longer by one letter, it was coined by students at Eton College as a humorous word. It can be broken down as follows:
floccus (“a wisp”) + naucum (“a trifle”) + nihilum (“nothing”) + pilus (“a hair”) + ficatio
Given that floccinaucinihilipilificatio is of late coinage, I believe that honorificabilitudinitatibus is most likely the winner. Besides being used by Shakespeare, it wasn't coined by him. Rather, it appeared long before his day, such as in the following dictionary entry by Johannes Balbus in 1286:
answered 2 days ago
Expedito Bipes
1,8981311
Your word, honorificabilitudinitatibus, seems to be commonly regarded as the longest, and it has the distinction of being used by Shakespeare.
However, there's also this one with 28 letters:
floccinaucinihilipilificatio,
which is the action or habit of estimating something as worthless.
Although the latter is longer by one letter, it was coined by students at Eton College as a humorous word. It can be broken down as follows:
floccus (“a wisp”) + naucum (“a trifle”) + nihilum (“nothing”) + pilus (“a hair”) + ficatio
Given that floccinaucinihilipilificatio is of late coinage, I believe that honorificabilitudinitatibus is most likely the winner. Besides being used by Shakespeare, it wasn't coined by him. Rather, it appeared long before his day, such as in the following dictionary entry by Johannes Balbus in 1286:
answered 2 days ago
Expedito Bipes
1,8981311
edited 2 days ago
answered 2 days ago
Expedito Bipes
1,8981311
answered 2 days ago
Expedito Bipes
1,8981311
answered 2 days ago
Expedito Bipes
1,8981311
1,8981311
2
But wait.... the word you mention is an English word. Sure, it's composed of Latin terms, but it seems it's never been used in a Latin context. Maybe the one I mentioned hasn't been either!
– luchonacho
2 days ago
2
Brilliant find, EB.
– Hugh
2 days ago
2
To be more accurate, Shakespeare didn't use it, he mentioned it. Or, to put it another way, he used it not to express a meaning, but to put into the mouth of the character Costard in Love's Labour's Lost, for him to cite it as a very long word (again, not to express a meaning). The Balbus is, as you say, a dictionary entry, so he cites the word just to define it, not to use it. And where Balbus spells its -ibus form in full, is this merely to cite it as a very long (longissima) word? What's the longest attested Latin word used to express its meaning, not just cited for its length?
– Rosie F
2 days ago
1
@RosieF. Either way, we agree that Shakespeare used it. I'm fine with that.
– Expedito Bipes
2 days ago
2
@ExpeditoBipes Please don't misrepresent me. Read my earlier comment's first two sentences in full, rather than taking a few words from them out of context.
– Rosie F
2 days ago
|
show 4 more comments
2
But wait.... the word you mention is an English word. Sure, it's composed of Latin terms, but it seems it's never been used in a Latin context. Maybe the one I mentioned hasn't been either!
– luchonacho
2 days ago
2
Brilliant find, EB.
– Hugh
2 days ago
2
To be more accurate, Shakespeare didn't use it, he mentioned it. Or, to put it another way, he used it not to express a meaning, but to put into the mouth of the character Costard in Love's Labour's Lost, for him to cite it as a very long word (again, not to express a meaning). The Balbus is, as you say, a dictionary entry, so he cites the word just to define it, not to use it. And where Balbus spells its -ibus form in full, is this merely to cite it as a very long (longissima) word? What's the longest attested Latin word used to express its meaning, not just cited for its length?
– Rosie F
2 days ago
1
@RosieF. Either way, we agree that Shakespeare used it. I'm fine with that.
– Expedito Bipes
2 days ago
2
@ExpeditoBipes Please don't misrepresent me. Read my earlier comment's first two sentences in full, rather than taking a few words from them out of context.
– Rosie F
2 days ago
2
2
But wait.... the word you mention is an English word. Sure, it's composed of Latin terms, but it seems it's never been used in a Latin context. Maybe the one I mentioned hasn't been either!
– luchonacho
2 days ago
But wait.... the word you mention is an English word. Sure, it's composed of Latin terms, but it seems it's never been used in a Latin context. Maybe the one I mentioned hasn't been either!
– luchonacho
2 days ago
2
2
Brilliant find, EB.
– Hugh
2 days ago
Brilliant find, EB.
– Hugh
2 days ago
2
2
To be more accurate, Shakespeare didn't use it, he mentioned it. Or, to put it another way, he used it not to express a meaning, but to put into the mouth of the character Costard in Love's Labour's Lost, for him to cite it as a very long word (again, not to express a meaning). The Balbus is, as you say, a dictionary entry, so he cites the word just to define it, not to use it. And where Balbus spells its -ibus form in full, is this merely to cite it as a very long (longissima) word? What's the longest attested Latin word used to express its meaning, not just cited for its length?
– Rosie F
2 days ago
To be more accurate, Shakespeare didn't use it, he mentioned it. Or, to put it another way, he used it not to express a meaning, but to put into the mouth of the character Costard in Love's Labour's Lost, for him to cite it as a very long word (again, not to express a meaning). The Balbus is, as you say, a dictionary entry, so he cites the word just to define it, not to use it. And where Balbus spells its -ibus form in full, is this merely to cite it as a very long (longissima) word? What's the longest attested Latin word used to express its meaning, not just cited for its length?
– Rosie F
2 days ago
1
1
@RosieF. Either way, we agree that Shakespeare used it. I'm fine with that.
– Expedito Bipes
2 days ago
@RosieF. Either way, we agree that Shakespeare used it. I'm fine with that.
– Expedito Bipes
2 days ago
2
2
@ExpeditoBipes Please don't misrepresent me. Read my earlier comment's first two sentences in full, rather than taking a few words from them out of context.
– Rosie F
2 days ago
@ExpeditoBipes Please don't misrepresent me. Read my earlier comment's first two sentences in full, rather than taking a few words from them out of context.
– Rosie F
2 days ago
|
show 4 more comments
up vote
2
down vote
First of all, with all due respect, this word is not Classical Latin; it’s a Medieval Latin neologism (a nonce word) that was occasionally used solely because of its length.
Secondly, honorificabilitudinitatibus is technically a word form, not a word (i.e. it’s not a lexeme).
Afaik, it is first encountered in a treatise written by Peter of Pisa, an eighth century Italian grammarian, who, incidentally, taught Latin to Charlemagne.
Here’s the screenshot:
answered 2 days ago
Alex B.
7,67411327
add a comment |
up vote
2
down vote
First of all, with all due respect, this word is not Classical Latin; it’s a Medieval Latin neologism (a nonce word) that was occasionally used solely because of its length.
Secondly, honorificabilitudinitatibus is technically a word form, not a word (i.e. it’s not a lexeme).
Afaik, it is first encountered in a treatise written by Peter of Pisa, an eighth century Italian grammarian, who, incidentally, taught Latin to Charlemagne.
Here’s the screenshot:
answered 2 days ago
Alex B.
7,67411327
add a comment |
up vote
2
down vote
up vote
2
down vote
First of all, with all due respect, this word is not Classical Latin; it’s a Medieval Latin neologism (a nonce word) that was occasionally used solely because of its length.
Secondly, honorificabilitudinitatibus is technically a word form, not a word (i.e. it’s not a lexeme).
Afaik, it is first encountered in a treatise written by Peter of Pisa, an eighth century Italian grammarian, who, incidentally, taught Latin to Charlemagne.
Here’s the screenshot:
answered 2 days ago
Alex B.
7,67411327
First of all, with all due respect, this word is not Classical Latin; it’s a Medieval Latin neologism (a nonce word) that was occasionally used solely because of its length.
Secondly, honorificabilitudinitatibus is technically a word form, not a word (i.e. it’s not a lexeme).
Afaik, it is first encountered in a treatise written by Peter of Pisa, an eighth century Italian grammarian, who, incidentally, taught Latin to Charlemagne.
Here’s the screenshot:
answered 2 days ago
Alex B.
7,67411327
edited 2 days ago
answered 2 days ago
Alex B.
7,67411327
answered 2 days ago
Alex B.
7,67411327
answered 2 days ago
Alex B.
7,67411327
7,67411327
add a comment |
add a comment |
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1
Are you looking for attested words, or are we free to coin new words? In principle one can derive without limits.
– Joonas Ilmavirta♦
2 days ago
@JoonasIlmavirta Attested words, for sure. I was not aware you could create your own words. Looks like an interesting question itself.
– luchonacho
2 days ago
2
You can indeed create your own words using existing words and a toolbox of new elements you can add. You can certainly ask a question about that. If you are only looking for attested words here (you could specify that in the question), I won't give an answer about extending words more or less artificially.
– Joonas Ilmavirta♦
2 days ago
@JoonasIlmavirta But the fact I can put together words does not mean it becomes an official word. Maybe that's how all words end up being official in the long term (i.e. by someone using them and hanging around), but that's a separated issue.
– luchonacho
2 days ago
2
Aristophanes went a little too far in deriving a new word. Greek is somewhat more flexible with compound words than Latin, though.
– Joonas Ilmavirta♦
2 days ago