floccinaucinihilipilification - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (2024)

1 English
- 1.1 Etymology
- 1.2 Pronunciation
- 1.3 Noun
  - 1.3.1 Related terms
  - 1.3.2 Translations
  - 1.3.3 Trivia
- 1.4 See also
- 1.5 References
- 1.6 Further reading

English

Etymology

Latin floccus (“a wisp”) +‎ naucum (“a trifle”) +‎ nihilum (“nothing”) +‎ pilus (“a hair”) + -fication

A jocular coinage, apparently by pupils at Eton College,^[1] combining a number of Latin word stems. The word was inspired by a line present in various editions of William Lily's (c. 1468–1522) Latin grammars published around the 17th–19th centuries (including the Eton Latin Grammar),^[2] in which some nouns commonly used in the genitive case with some verbs like pendo and facio are listed, which express evaluating something as worthless or as previously mentioned; see the reference.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˌflɒksɪˌnɔːsɪˌnaɪhɪlɪˌpɪlɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/, /ˌflɒksiˌnɒsiˌnɪhɪlɪˌpɪlɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/
Audio (US): (file)
Audio (UK): (file)

Hyphenation: flocci‧nauci‧ni‧hili‧pili‧fi‧ca‧tion

Noun

floccinaucinihilipilification (uncountable)

(often humorous) The act or habit of describing or regarding something as unimportant, of having no value or being worthless.
- 1741, William Shenstone, Letters:
  I loved him for nothing so much as his flocci-nauci-nihili-pili-fication of money.
- 1970, Patrick O'Brian, Master and Commander:
  There is a systematic flocci-nauci-nihili-pilification of all other aspects of existence that angers me.
- 2000, Raymond J. Chambers, Logic, Law, and Ethics‎^[3]:
  Floccinaucinihilipilification in accounting - does it matter?
- 2006, Sol Steinmetz, The life of language‎^[4]:
  They must be taken with an air of contempt, a floccinaucinihilipilification of all that can gratify the outward man.
- 2009, Judith Orloff, Emotional Freedom‎^[5]:
  Some people with low self-esteem are prone to floccinaucinihilipilification, the habit of deeming everything worthless.
- 2011, Bruce Ratner, Statistical and Machine-Learning Data Mining‎^[6]:
  The quasi statistician would doubtlessly not know how to check this supposition, thus rendering the interpretation of the mean profit as floccinaucinihilipilification.
- 2012 February 21, Jacob Rees-Mogg, parliamentary debates‎^[7], column 787:
  Let me indulge in the floccinaucinihilipilification of EU judges and quote from the book of Amos about them.

Related terms

floccinaucinihilipilificate
floccinaucinihilipilificatious

Translations

act or habit of describing or regarding something as unimportant

Chinese:
Mandarin: 把某東西看作是無價值的／把某东西看作是无价值的 (bǎ mǒu dōngxi kànzuò shì wú jiàzhí de)
Dutch: geringschatting(nl)
Finnish: vähättely(fi)
German: ^{(please verify)} Geringschätzung(de)f
Latin: floccinaucinihilipilificatio
Malay: memperkecil
Norwegian: bagatelliseringm
Swedish: bagatelliseringc, förringningc

Trivia

Often cited as the longest non-technical word in the English language, being one letter longer than the well-known antidisestablishmentarianism. It was the longest word ever recorded in Parliament after Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg used it in a 2012 debate, until the record was broken in 2017 by Michael Bryan with the word pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.^[3]

References

^ Dot Wordsworth (2011 June 11) “Mind your language”, in The Spectator‎^[1], London: Press Holdings, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2020-06-13
^ R. R. [i.e., Ralph Robinson?] (1641) An Engliſh Grammar: Or, A plain Expoſition of Lilie's Grammar, London: […] Felix Kyngston[…], page 107:
Flocci, of a locke of Wooll: Nauci, of a Nut-ſhell: Nihili, of nothing: Pili, of an haire: Aſſis, of a farthing: Hujus, of thus much: Teruncii, of thꝛee ounces, are peculiarly uſed with theſe Verbes: Æstimo, I weigh: Pendo, I make reckoning of: Facio, I make: as, Ego illum flocci pendo: I eſteeme him as naught. Nec hujus facio, qui me pili æſtimat: neither doe I regard him thus much, who eſteemes me as an haire.
William Haine (1659) Lilies Rules Construed,[…], London: […] Roger Norton,[…], page 54, column 1:
Flocci of a lock of wool, nauci of a nut ſhell or pill, nihili nothing, pili of an hair, aſſis of a farthing, hujus thus much, teruncii of three ounces, peculiaritur^[sic] properly adjiciuntur are put hic verbis to theſe verbs, æſtimo I eſteem, pendo I weigh, facio I make reckoning of: ut as, Ego pendo I eſteem illum him flocci as nought: Nec neither facio do I regard him hujus thus much qui who æſtimat esteems me me pili as an hair.
T. W. C. Edwards (1826) “Syntaxis, or the Rules of Grammar Construed”, in The Eton College Grammar: A Plain and Concise Introduction to the Latin Language, being Lily's Grammar Abridged,[…], London: […] W[illiam] Simpkin and R[ichard] Marshall,[…], pages 269–270:
Flócci of a lock of wool, náuci of a nut-shell, níhili of nóthing, píli of a hair, ássis of a pénny, hújus of this, terúncii of a fárthing, addúntur are ádded, peculiáritèr pecúliarly or véry próperly vérbis to verbs æstimándi of esteéming:—ut as, égo péndo íllum I válue him flócci a straw, nèc fácio nor do I regárd him hújus this, (viz. a snap of the finger and thumb,) qui who æstimat me esteéms me píli (not) a hair.
^ David Shariatmadari (2017 July 31) “Want to sound cleverer than Jacob Rees-Mogg? Here are five long words to drop into conversation”, in The Guardian‎^[2], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-05-20: “Michael Bryan's use of "pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis" in a select committee meeting means floccinaucinihilipilification's reign – it has been a mere five years since Rees-Mogg said it during a Commons debate – is over.”