Floccinaucinihilipilification


[flok-suh-naw-suh-nahy-hil-uh-pil-uh-fi-key-shuh n] /ˌflɒk səˌnɔ səˌnaɪ hɪl əˌpɪl ə fɪˈkeɪ ʃən/

noun
1.
Rare. the estimation of something as valueless (encountered mainly as an example of one of the longest words in the English language).
noun

an act or instance of judging something to be worthless or trivial
Word Origin

the parts of the word each mean ‘at nothing’ or ‘with a small price’
n.

“action or habit of estimating as worthless,” 1741, a combination of four Latin words (flocci, nauci, nihili, pilifi) all signifying “at a small price” or “for nothing,” which were listed together in a rule of the well-known Eton Latin Grammar. The kind of jocular formation that was possible among educated men in Britain in those days. Just so, as in praesenti, the opening words of mnemonic lines on conjugation in Lilley’s 16c. Latin grammar, could stand alone as late as 19c. and be understood to mean “rudiments of Latin.”

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