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– How are dictionaries made?
– What is the oldest text in Portuguese?
Hang in there: it’s pneumoultramicroscopicsilicovulcanoconiotic. Below, you’ll see that the meaning of this 46-letter swear word is simple. The word gained definitive registration in 2001, when it appeared in the Houaiss dictionary and made other huge words eat dust. Before, the title belonged to the adverb “anti-constitutionalissimamente”, which has 29 letters and describes something that is done against the constitution. The vice-president was “ophthalmo-, nose, and throat,” with 28 letters, which refers to a specialist in diseases of the eyes, ears, nose, and throat. Houaiss is the champion of words in the Portuguese language, with 228,500 entries. It does not bring, for example, chemistry words that have dozens of syllables, used to define compounds. One of these is tetrabromometacresolsulfonphthalein, which is 35 letters long and indicates a dye used in reactions. “Words like that are very specific and only appear in glossaries of chemical terminology”, says philologist Mauro Villar, from the Antônio Houaiss Institute.
Understand each part of this 46-letter word
Pneumoultramicroscopic
Pneumo – Lung
Ultra – Out of
Microscopic – Very small
silicovolcanoconiotic
Silico – Comes from silicon, a chemical element present in volcanic magma
Vulcan – Coming from a volcano
Coniotic – Comes from coniosis, a disease caused by inhaling dust suspended in the air.
All this together…
Person suffering from a lung disease, pneumoconiosis, caused by breathing in volcanic ash!