The Longest Word in the Dictionary by Merriam-Webster Lyrics
Hi! Welcome to Ask the Editor. I'm Kory Stamper, an Associate Editor at Merriam-Webster.
What's the longest word in the dictionary? If you said "antidisestablishmentarianism," you're wrong. The longest word in Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary is currently "electroencephalographically," which means "by using electroencephalography to examine a patient," as in: "Have you examined the patient electroencephalographically?"
And "antidisestablishmentarianism" isn't entered into any of our dictionaries. Yes, I know, we enter "electroencephalographically," and we don't enter "antidisestablishmentarianism"? What kind of lexicographers are we? We are the kind that like to enter words with meanings. There are three criteria all words must meet in order to be entered into the dictionary: widespread usage, sustained usage, and meaningful usage, that is, evidence that the word is used to refer to something.
Where "antidisestablishmentarianism" gets disqualified first is the meaningful usage criterion. Go ahead, what does "antidisestablishmentarianism" mean? It's an example of a long word, but that's not its meaning. A word with meaning contributes essential information to a clause or sentence. When "antidisestablishmentarianism" is used as an example of a long word, it doesn't actually have a meaning at all.
But can't we construct a meaning for it? Sure. Based on its component parts, "antidisestablishmentarianism" would mean something like "opposition to depriving a legally established state church of its status." Our problem is that we have scant evidence of it used with that meaning. In our files, which go back over 100 years, we only have three citations for "antidisestablishmentarianism" used with something like that meaning. Three citations isn't sustained or widespread use.
You could make a case that we should enter "antidisestablishmentarianism" simply because it's a well-known word. With more widespread, sustained, and meaningful use, we will—and then it will be the longest word in our Collegiate Dictionary ... unless we enter "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious."
You'll find more episodes of Ask the Editor at merriam-webster.com.
What's the longest word in the dictionary? If you said "antidisestablishmentarianism," you're wrong. The longest word in Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary is currently "electroencephalographically," which means "by using electroencephalography to examine a patient," as in: "Have you examined the patient electroencephalographically?"
And "antidisestablishmentarianism" isn't entered into any of our dictionaries. Yes, I know, we enter "electroencephalographically," and we don't enter "antidisestablishmentarianism"? What kind of lexicographers are we? We are the kind that like to enter words with meanings. There are three criteria all words must meet in order to be entered into the dictionary: widespread usage, sustained usage, and meaningful usage, that is, evidence that the word is used to refer to something.
Where "antidisestablishmentarianism" gets disqualified first is the meaningful usage criterion. Go ahead, what does "antidisestablishmentarianism" mean? It's an example of a long word, but that's not its meaning. A word with meaning contributes essential information to a clause or sentence. When "antidisestablishmentarianism" is used as an example of a long word, it doesn't actually have a meaning at all.
But can't we construct a meaning for it? Sure. Based on its component parts, "antidisestablishmentarianism" would mean something like "opposition to depriving a legally established state church of its status." Our problem is that we have scant evidence of it used with that meaning. In our files, which go back over 100 years, we only have three citations for "antidisestablishmentarianism" used with something like that meaning. Three citations isn't sustained or widespread use.
You could make a case that we should enter "antidisestablishmentarianism" simply because it's a well-known word. With more widespread, sustained, and meaningful use, we will—and then it will be the longest word in our Collegiate Dictionary ... unless we enter "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious."
You'll find more episodes of Ask the Editor at merriam-webster.com.