10

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?

6
  • 1
    Are you looking for attested words, or are we free to coin new words? In principle one can derive without limits.
    – Joonas Ilmavirta
    Nov 22, 2018 at 10:41
  • 1
    @JoonasIlmavirta Attested words, for sure. I was not aware you could create your own words. Looks like an interesting question itself.
    – luchonacho
    Nov 22, 2018 at 10:59
  • 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
    Nov 22, 2018 at 11:02
  • 1
    Well, that quickly becomes a question of how to define a word in the first place. There is no official body to decide which words are proper Latin and which are not. There are legitimate ways to derive new words in Latin and they have been used actively through the ages. A number of established Latin words have arisen through derivation from older elements within Latin. But I agree, that's not really what this question is about.
    – Joonas Ilmavirta
    Nov 22, 2018 at 11:37
  • 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
    Nov 22, 2018 at 11:39

4 Answers 4

12

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:

enter image description here

9
  • 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
    Nov 22, 2018 at 11:02
  • 2
    Brilliant find, EB.
    – Hugh
    Nov 22, 2018 at 15:08
  • 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
    Nov 22, 2018 at 19:15
  • 1
    @RosieF. Either way, we agree that Shakespeare used it. I'm fine with that. Nov 22, 2018 at 19:30
  • 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
    Nov 22, 2018 at 19:33
7

Even longer than honorificabilitudinitas and attested in antiquity is subductisupercilicarptor (24 letters). If you want to compare it to a dative/ablative plural, then in fairness the word form you should compare would of course be subductisupercilicarptoribus (28 letters).

It is a word for an overly discerning critic and may perhaps be translated as raised-eyebrow carver (from subducere = raise [actually a rare meaning], supercilium = eyebrow, carptor = food carver).

OK, it's a bit of a joke word that was never in common use. It occurs in one place only, and then it is not really used either, just quoted.

The word was presumably coined by the somewhat mysterious poet Laevius from the second century BC, of whom only scant fragements have survived, but the actual source is Aulus Gellius: Noctes Atticae, book 19, where A. G. reports on the style of Laevius and his proclivity for coining original expressions. For he had attended a reading of Laevius in the house of one Julius Paulus together with his companion Julius Celsinus, and on their way back the two reminisced on the various “Laevian” coinages they had heard, and pondered which of these they might adopt for their own use. After giving a number of examples, Aulus Gellius concludes:

Cetera [verba] enim, quae uidebantur nimium poetica, ex prosae orationis usu alieniora praetermisimus; ueluti fuit, quod de Nestore ait 'trisaeclisenex' et 'dulciorelocus', item quod <de> tumidis magnisque fluctibus '<fluctibus>' inquit 'multigrumis' et flumina gelu concreta 'tegmine' esse 'onychino' dixit et quae multiplica ludens conposuit, quale illud est, quod uituperones suos 'subductisupercilicarptores' appellauit.

Other words namely, that seemed too poetical and inappropriate for use in prose, we passed over; one example was that he called Nestor “trisaeclisenex” and “dulciorelocus,” likewise that for high-rising and great rivers he spoke of “fluctibus multigrumis,” and said that rivers that are frozen solid are “tegmine onychino,” and what multi-part words he playfully put together, such as that he called his critics “subductisupercilicarptores.”

4
  • I should add that this was an easy find, as this word is in fact the first Google hit for "longest latin word" :) It appears, correctly attributed to Aulus Gellius no less, on a website called “Pinterest,” the purpose of which is unclear to me. Aug 2, 2020 at 22:47
  • Why not 31 letters? (Add -que.)
    – C Monsour
    Aug 4, 2020 at 13:54
  • @CMonsour I considered adding -que! But since you can essentially add it to any word (or can you? that would make another interesting question), it does not really contribute substantially to the question which word is the longest of them all. Aug 4, 2020 at 21:00
  • I don't think you can generally add it to conjunctions or prepositions. Also, in another answer, 2 of the 3 longest words in the Vulgate end in -que.
    – C Monsour
    Aug 5, 2020 at 0:17
5

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:

enter image description here

5

For what it's worth, the three longest word forms in the Vulgate have 19 letters (http://www.intratext.com/IXT/LAT0001/_FLJ.HTM):

  • praecipitaveruntque (2 Pa. 25:12)
  • sanctificaveruntque (2 Pa. 29:33)
  • praetergrediebantur (Mar. 9:29)

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.