floccinaucinihilipilification

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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][3][4] 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:

"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."

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˌflɒksɪˌnɔːsɪˌnaɪhɪlɪˌpɪlɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/, /ˌflɒksiˌnɒsiˌnɪhɪlɪˌpɪlɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/
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  • Hyphenation: flocci‧nauci‧ni‧hili‧pili‧fi‧ca‧tion

Noun

floccinaucinihilipilification (uncountable)

  1. (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.

Usage notes

Related terms

Translations

See also

References

  1. ^ Dot Wordsworth (11 June 2011), “Mind your language”, in The Spectator[1], London: Press Holdings, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2020-06-13
  2. ^ R. R. (1641) An Engliſh Grammar: Or, A plain Expoſition of Lilie's Grammar, London: [] Felix Kyngston [], page 107
  3. ^ Lilies Rules Construed, [], London: [] Roger Norton, [], 1659, page 54, column 1
  4. ^ 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. Simpkin and R. Marshall, [], page 269
  5. ^ David Shariatmadari (31 July 2017), “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.”

Further reading