Longest word in Spanish explained

This article describes some of the longest words in the Spanish language.

Esternocleidooccipitomastoideos (31 letters) is the plural of the noun esternocleidooccipitomastoideo, which is the sternocleidomastoid, a muscle in the human neck.^[1] The word has a 22-letter synonym: esternocleidomastoideo,^{[2] [3] [4]} which is shorter because it omits the Latin prefix ('occipital').^[5] Both words are abbreviated as ECOM.^[4]

The 24-letter word, plural of electroencefalografista, means 'electroencephalographists' or 'electroencephalographers': specialists in the brain measurement technology of electroencephalography (EEG).^{[3] [6]}

The 23-letter adverb anticonstitucionalmente means 'anticonstitutionally'.^[7] Anticonstitucionalmente is also the Portuguese translation; the French translation, anticonstitutionnellement, is an exceptionally long word as well (25 letters).^[7]

Long words

In the table below, all of the Spanish nouns except for can be pluralised by adding an s (es for) to the end. The adjective can also be pluralised with an s; the plurals of the other adjectives end in es.

The RAE column indicates whether the Real Academia Española lists and defines the word in the Diccionario de la lengua española, its official dictionary.

Word	Letters	Syllables	Part of speech	Translation
scope="row"	hipopotomonstrosesquipedaliofobia	33	13	noun
scope="row"	esternocleidooccipitomastoideo	30	13	noun
scope="row"	hexakosioihexekontahexafobia	28	10	noun
"scope="row"	anticonstitucionalmente	23	9	adverb
scope="row"	electroencefalografista	23	10	noun
scope="row"	esternocleidomastoideo	22	9	noun			^[8]
scope="row"	electroencefalografía	21	10	noun			^[9]
scope="row"	otorrinolaringológico	21	10	adjective			^[10]
scope="row"	internacionalización	20	8	noun			^[11]
scope="row"	electroencefalograma	20	9	noun			^[12]
scope="row"	otorrinolaringología	20	10	noun			^[13]
scope="row"	electrocardiografía	19	9	noun			^[14] ^[15]
scope="row"	desafortunadamente	18	8	adjective			^[16]
scope="row"	anticonstitucional	18	7	adjective			^[17]
scope="row"	desconsoladamente	17	7	adverb			^[18]
scope="row"	interculturalidad	17	7	noun			^[19]
scope="row"	arteriosclerosis	16	6	noun			^[20]
scope="row"	electrodoméstico	16	7	noun			^[21]
scope="row"	inconstitucional	16	6	adjective			^[22]
scope="row"	limpiaparabrisas	16	7	noun			^[23]
scope="row"	inexorablemente	15	7	adverb			^[24]
scope="row"	paralelepípedo	14	7	noun			^[25]

External links

• Words of specified length
• Words of specified length in Spanish

Notes and References

1. Book: Roldán Calzado, Juan Luis . Me la juego a letras . 2008 . La palabra más larga . https://books.google.com/books?id=TUHuAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA34 . 34 . Lulu Press . 978-1-4092-2893-6 . Spanish . 2017-03-15 . Google Books.
2. Web site: esternocleidomastoideo . RAE.es . . Spanish . 2017-03-15.
3. Web site: What Is the Longest Word in Spanish? . Erichsen . Gerald . 15 June 2014 . ThoughtCo. . . 2017-03-14.
4. Book: Peninou, Gilles . Las tensiones musculares: Del diagnóstico al tratamiento . Tixa . Serge . 2010 . Introducción local: el cuello . https://books.google.com/books?id=Z8JsSaFb6qwC&pg=PA4 . 4 . . Barcelona . 978-84-458-2015-5 . 889248601 . Spanish . 2017-03-15 . Google Books.
5. Web site: occipito- . Merriam Webster Medical Dictionary . . 2017-03-14.
6. Web site: electroencefalografista . RAE.es . . Spanish . 2017-03-15.
7. Book: Sundem, Garth . The Geeks' Guide to World Domination . 2009 . The Longest Words in Many Languages . https://books.google.com/books?id=EtiODQAAQBAJ&pg=PA185 . Three Rivers Press . New York . 185 . 978-0-307-45034-0 . 232980435 . 2017-03-14 .
8. Web site: Cuáles son las palabras más largas en español (y cuales son las falsas o inventadas) . 2 April 2010 . Solosequenosenada . Spanish.
9. Web site: electroencefalografía . RAE.es . . Spanish . 2017-03-31.
10. Web site: otorrinolaringológico . RAE.es . . Spanish . 2017-03-31.
11. Web site: internacionalización . RAE.es . . Spanish . 2019-03-18.
12. Web site: electroencefalograma . RAE.es . . Spanish . 2017-03-31.
13. Web site: otorrinolaringología . RAE.es . . Spanish . 2017-03-31.
14. Web site: electrocardiografía . RAE.es . . Spanish . 2017-03-31.
15. Web site: Separar en sílabas la palabra: electrocardiografiamente . Buscapalabras . 2018-06-25.
16. Web site: desafortunadamente . RAE.es . . Spanish . 2017-03-31.
17. Web site: anticonstitucional . RAE.es . . Spanish . 2017-03-31.
18. Web site: desconsoladamente . RAE.es . . Spanish . 2017-03-31.
19. Web site: interculturalidad . RAE.es . . Spanish . 2019-03-12.
20. Web site: arteriosclerosis . RAE.es . . Spanish . 2017-03-31.
21. Web site: electrodoméstico . RAE.es . . Spanish . 2017-03-31.
22. Web site: inconstitucional . RAE.es . . Spanish . 2017-03-31.
23. Web site: limpiaparabrisas. RAE.es . . Spanish . 2017-03-31.
24. Web site: inexorablemente . RAE.es . . Spanish . 2019-03-01.
25. Web site: paralelepípedo . RAE.es . . Spanish . 2017-03-31.