Home UK English pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis

Meaning of pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis in English:

pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis

Pronunciation /?nju?m?(?)n????ltr??m??kr?(?)?sk?p?k?s?l?k??v?l?ke?n???k??n????s?s/

noun

mass noun

  • An invented long word said to mean a lung disease caused by inhaling very fine ash and sand dust.

    ‘Pneumono-ultra-microscopic-silica-volcano-coniosis is a form of the illness pneumo-coni-osis, caused by the inhalation of a fine silica dust found in most volcanoes.’
    • ‘Thus, pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is a disease of the lungs resulting from the inhalation of very fine silicate or quartz dust’

Origin

1930s a word invented (probably by Everett M. Smith, president of the National Puzzlers' League) in imitation of very long medical terms.