This document discusses unique words in different languages and palindromes. It provides examples of unique words in English, French, Italian, Romanian, and palindromes in those and other languages. It also discusses "false friends" where words have different meanings in different languages, and lists some of the longest words in various languages from around the world.

1. Cuvinte cusensunic
Unique words
In most languages you will find words that are unique to that language and/or culture.
English
 higgledy-piggledy: disordered, jumbled, not neat and tidy. According to Oxford Dictionary, probably used
initially with reference to the disordered herding together of pigs
dilly-dally: to move or act too slowlyFrench
 yaourt: English pop music sung without any understanding of the meaning; singing to create something that
sounds like English pop music but actually isn’t (literally, yoghurt)
 metro-boulot-dodo: the daily grind (literally, ‘tube-work-sleep’)

Italian
 mammismo: maternal control and interference that continues into adulthood
Romanian
 dor: a feeling of melancholy as a result of the desire to see someone or something you love
Palindromes

2. Palindromes – words and sentences that read the same backwards – have been popular since
ancient times. The Germans have even come up with a palindromic word –Eibohphobie –that means
a fear of palindromes.
English
 Was it Eliot's toilet I saw?
 Able was I ere I saw Elba.
 Never odd or even
 Was it a cat I saw?
 Do geese see God?
 A man, a plan, a canal, Panama
 Go hang a salami, I’m a lasagna hog.
 Murder for a jar of red rum
 Rats live on no evil star.
 Rise to vote, sir.
 Madam, I'm Adam.
 Neil, an alien?
 Dennis sinned.
French
 Et la marine va, papa, venir à Malte.
And the Navy, Dad, will come to Malta.
 Esope reste ici et se repose.
Aesop remains here and rests.

3.  Tu l'as trop écrasé, César, ce Port Salut!
You mashed it too much, Cesar, this Port Salut (a kind of french cheese)!
 Eh ca va la vache!
Eh, how are you, the cow!
 Elu par cette crapule
Elected by this villain
Romanian
 Elevele
The students (feminine)
 Atașata
The attached (feminine)
 Ele fac cafele.
They (feminine) make coffee.
 Ene purta patru pene.
Ene was wearing four feathers.
 Ai rămas acasă, Maria?
Did you stay at home, Maria?
 O ramă maro.
A brown frame.
Same word - different meaning
There are many similarities between Europe’s languages with words in one language used with the
same or similar spelling and meaning in another language. However, in this section we highlight
some of the ‘false friends’, where words often represent something quite different to what you
expect!
Word Language 1 Meaning Language 2 Meaning
aloud Dutch ancient English aloud

4. angel Dutch sting English angel
angel German fishing rod English angel
any English any Catalan year
arm Dutch poor English arm
bad Dutch bath English bad
bank Dutch cough English bank
barn Swedish children English barn
bat Polish whip English bat
beer Dutch bear English beer
berros Spanish watercress Portuguese scream
big Dutch baby pig English big
blubber Dutch mud English blubber
bra Swedish good English bra
brand Dutch fire English brand

5. brat Slovak brother English brat
burro Italian butter Spanish donkey
but Polish shoe English but
cap Romanian head English cap
car French because English car
chariot French trolley English chariot
chips French Crisps English chips / french fries
dobro Croation good Portuguese double; twice
door Dutch through English door
elf English elf German eleven
farmer English farmer Hungarian jeans
fart Swedish speed English fart
fart Polish good luck English fart
fast German almost English quick

6. Fisch -
fiche
German fish French sheet of paper
flint Swedish bald head English flint
four French oven English four
gap Swedish mouth English gap
gift English gift German poison
gift English gift Swedish married
gift English gift Norwegian poison
gland French acorn English gland
glass Swedish ice-cream English glass
grad German degree Bosnian city
gris Spanish grey Swedish pig
helmet Finnish pearls English helmet
home Finnish mould English home
home Catalan man English home

7. kaka Icelandic cake Bulgarian an older sister
kiss English kiss Swedish pee
largo Portuguese wide Spanish long
list Slovak a leaf English list
maize Latvian bread English corn
mås Swedish seagull Danish buttocks
matka Czech mother Finnish journey
matto Finnish carpet Italian crazy
otrok Slovene child Slovak slave
pain French bread English pain
panna Polish a single woman Italian cream
panna Finnish put Italian cream
pasta Italian noodles Polish toothpaste
penner Norwegian pens German tramp

8. plot Czech fence English plot
prego Italian you're welcome Portuguese nail
privet Russian hello (привет) English
name for a plant (genus
Ligustrum)
rana Spanish frog Bulgarian wound
rana Romanian wound Spanish frog
rock Swedish coat English rock
rock English rock German skirt
roof Dutch robbery English roof
rooster Dutch schedule English rooster
rot (рот) German red Russian mouth
rum Swedish room English rum
sale Italian salt English sale
sau German sow
Norwegian
(Nynorsk)
sheep
seis Finnish stop! Spanish six

9. sky Swedish gravy English sky
slim Dutch smart English slim
stol (стол) Russian table Bulgarian chair
sugar Basque flame English sugar
sugar Romanian
baby (0-12 months
old)
English sugar
tak Danish Thank you Polish Yes
tie Finnish way; road English tie
tuna Spanish cactus English tuna
tuna Czech
ton (a unit of
weight)
English tuna
vela Spanish candle Italian sail
worst Dutch sausage English worst
ongest words
German’s supposedly longest word in the world’s vocabularies has been considered too much for
the German bureaucrats and is being consigned as obsolete.
Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz

10. meaning “the law concerning the delegation of duties for the supervision of cattle marking and the
labeling of beef" is 63 letters long.
The Germans are renowned for their love of long words, but they are not the only ones who like to
create complex compound words as nouns. The Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes coined the
183 lettered
lopado-temacho-selacho-galeo-kranio-leipsano-drim-hupotrimmatosilphio-karabo-
melito-katakechumeno-kichl-epikossuphophatto-peristeralektruon-opto-kephallio-
kigklo-peleio-lagoio-siraio-baphe-traganopterugon
meaning a dish compounded of all kinds of dainties, fish, fowl and sauces.
BULGARIAN
neprotivokonstitutsionstvuvatelstvuvayte
(40 letters) something against constitution
CROATIAN
prijestolonaslijednikovica
(26 letters) the wife of a heir to the throne
CZECH
nejneobhospodarovávatelnejšími
(30 letters) the less farmed
DANISH
Speciallægepraksisplanlægningsstabiliseringsperiode
(52 letters) period where a specialist doctors planning of the practice is stabilized
DUTCH
kindercarnavalsoptochtvoorbereidingswerkzaamheden
(48 letters) preparation activities for a children’s carnival procession
ENGLISH
As for the English language, there are somewhat fanciful claims for extremely long words. However,
more realistically here are the following in descending length:
pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
(45 letters) the longest word in a major dictionary, a technical word for a lung disease created by
silica dust inhalation

11. supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
(34 letters) from the Mary Poppins film and musical with a fanciful defintion
hippopotomonstrosesquipedalianism
(33 letters) which means the love of long words
pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism
(30 letters) the longest non-coined word in a major dictionary for a specific inherited medical disorder
floccinaucinihilipilification
(29 letters coined in 1741) meaning the categorizing of something that is useless or trivial (the
longest unchallenged non-technical word)
antidisestablishmentarianism
(28 letters) the longest non-coined and non-technical word
ESTONIAN
raudteeülesõidukoht
(19 letters) train crossing point
FINNISH
lentokonesuihkuturbiinimoottoriapumekaanikkoaliupseerioppilas
(61 letters) technical warrant officer trainee specialized in aircraft jet engines
käsipyyherullajärjestelmä
(25 letters) an automatic towel system for drying your hands
peruspalveluliikelaitoskuntayhtymä
(34 letters) a municipality providing basic services
FRENCH
anticonstitutionnellement
(25 letters) unconstitutionally
GERMAN
Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaftskapitänsmütze
(48 letters) a cap used by a captain on the river of Donau
Dudelsackspfeifenmachergesellenprüfung
(38 letters) exam for those who want to become a specialist in making pipes for bagpipes
siebenhundertsiebenundsiebzigtausendsiebenhundertsiebenundsiebzig
(65 letters) whole number 777,777

12. GREEK
υποδηματοεπιδιορθωτήριον
(24 letters) by mending shoes
ωτορινολαρυγγολόγος
(19 letters) otolaryngologist (throat-ear-nose specialist)
ακτινοχρυσοφαιδροβροντολαμπροφεγγοφωτοστόλιστος
(47 letters) dressed in golden-shining, thundering and incandescent clothes
σκουληκομυρμηγκότρυπα
(21 letters) an anthill
HUNGARIAN
megszentségtelenithetetlenségeskedéseltekért
(44 letters) “for your unprofaneable actions”
legmegvesztegethetetlenebbek
(28 letters) the least corruptible ones
ITALIAN
precipitevolissimevolmente
(26 letters) to do something in a hurry
psiconeuroendocrinoimmunologia
(30 letters) a discipline that deals with the relationship between the functioning of the nervous
system, the immune system and the endocrine system
LATIN
honorificabilitudinitatibus
(27 letters) the state of being able to achieve honours (the longest word in Shakespeare from Love’s
Labour’s Lost)
LATVIAN
pretpulksteņrādītājvirziens
(28 letters) in a counter-clockwise direction
LITHUANIAN
nebeprisikiškiakopusteliaudavome
(30 letters) we didn't pick rabbit cabbage

13. ROMANIAN
otorinolaringologie
(19 letters) Otorhinolaringology
sternocleidomastoidian
(22 letters) the sternocleidomastoid muscle that is located in the front of the neck
POLISH
konstantynopolitanczykiewiczówna
(31 letters) girl living in Constantinople
PORTUGUESE
anticonstitucionalissimamente
(29 letters) unconstitutionally
SERBIAN
prestolonaslednikovica
(22 letters) wife of the Crown Prince
SLOVENIAN
starocerkvenoslovanšcina
(24 letters) Old Church Slavik Language
SLOVAK
najnevypocítavatelnejší
(23 letters) the most difficult example to calculate
SPANISH
anticonstitucionalmente
(23 letters) unconstitutionally
contrarrevolucionario
(21 letters) person who favors or is part of the counter-revolution
SWEDISH
nordvästersjökustartilleriflygspaningssimulatoranläggningsmaterielunderhåll –
suppföljningssystemdiskussionsinläggsförberedelsearbeten
(131 letters) north west sea coastal artillery reconnaissance flight simulator facility equipment
maintenance follow-up discussion posts preparatory work

14. TURKISH
Afyonkarahisarlilardanlarmis
(28 letters) They are said to belong to the family that came from Afyonkarahisar
Muvaffakiyetsizlestiricilestiriveremeyebileceklerimizdenmissinizcesine
(70 letters) As if you would be from those we can not easily/quickly make a maker of unsuccessful
ones
çekostravakyalılardanmısınızsiz?
(31 letters) Are you from çekostravakyalı?
WELSH
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
(58 letters) village on the island of Anglesey in Wales, literal meaning: St Mary's in Hollow of the
White Hazel near to the Rapid Whirlpool of Llantysilio of the Red Cave
The concept and examples featured on this page have been provided by Adam Jacot de Boinod
Do you know the longest word in your
language?Please let us know!
Please only submit words that are actually being used, please no technicalor medical terms.
Longest word:
Translation into English:
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