The Guinness World Record for the longest word used in any language in the world literature is a Sanskrit compound word composed of 195 Sanskrit characters. This transliterates into more than 400 letters in the roman alphabets used by the English language. It is the longest word to ever appear in any worldwide literature.
Longest Word used in World Literature
Source of the world’s longest word
This word is from the Sanskrit Literary work “Varadambika Parinaya Champu” of Tirumalamba which dates back to 16th Century. Tirumalamba wrote this book describing the marriage of the king who ruled the Vijayanagar Empire then, Emperor Achyuta Deva Raya. She lived in the Vijayanagar Empire which is in modern day Karnataka State of India.
Contents and meaning of the world’s longest word
निरन्तरान्धकारित-दिगन्तर-कन्दलदमन्द-सुधारस-बिन्दु-सान्द्रतर-घनाघन-वृन्द-सन्देहकर-स्यन्दमान-मकरन्द-बिन्दु-बन्धुरतर-माकन्द-तरु-कुल-तल्प-कल्प-मृदुल-सिकता-जाल-जटिल-मूल-तल-मरुवक-मिलदलघु-लघु-लय-कलित-रमणीय-पानीय-शालिका-बालिका-करार-विन्द-गलन्तिका-गलदेला-लवङ्ग-पाटल-घनसार-कस्तूरिकातिसौरभ-मेदुर-लघुतर-मधुर-शीतलतर-सलिलधारा-निराकरिष्णु-तदीय-विमल-विलोचन-मयूख-रेखापसारित-पिपासायास-पथिक-लोकान्
Below is the English transliteration of this word
- nirantarāndhakārita-digantara-kandaladamanda-sudhārasa-bindu-sāndratara-ghanāghana-vṛnda-sandehakara-syandamāna-makaranda-bindu-bandhuratara-mākanda-taru-kula-talpa-kalpa-mṛdula-sikatā-jāla-jaṭila-mūla-tala-maruvaka-miladalaghu-laghu-laya-kalita-ramaṇīya-pānīya-śālikā-bālikā-karāra-vinda-galantikā-galadelā-lavaṅga-pāṭala-ghanasāra-kastūrikātisaurabha-medura-laghutara-madhura-śītalatara-saliladhārā-nirākariṣṇu-tadīya-vimala-vilocana-mayūkha-rekhāpasārita-pipāsāyāsa-pathika-lokān
The approximate meaning of this word is
In it, the distress, caused by thirst, to travellers, was alleviated by clusters of rays of the bright eyes of the girls; the rays that were shaming the currents of light, sweet and cold water charged with the strong fragrance of cardamom, clove, saffron, camphor and musk and flowing out of the pitchers (held in) the lotus-like hands of maidens (seated in) the beautiful water-sheds, made of the thick roots of vetiver mixed with marjoram, (and built near) the foot, covered with heaps of couch-like soft sand, of the clusters of newly sprouting mango trees, which constantly darkened the intermediate space of the quarters, and which looked all the more charming on account of the trickling drops of the floral juice, which thus caused the delusion of a row of thick rainy clouds, densely filled with abundant nectar
Bonus: Venkatanarasimharajuvaripeta in Andhra Pradesh, India is one of the Top 10 longest place names in the world. It is the 6th or 7th longest place name in the world depending on whether you prefix it with a Sri or not.
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Bro this is so informative, it’s crazy bruh.
There is one Dasakumara Charitham of Dandin. It contains several very long sentences and words. Worth reading.
Nice article. Thanks for posting with the meaning. Another Bonus : This Venkatanarasimharajuvaripeta is the longest name of a railway station in India.
Dude there might be a longest word than this in sanskrit literature, if we may find it. There is no limitation to the length of the word in sanskrit because the concept of “samasa”. Even we can construct a longer word than this. The beauty of Sanskrit language is this.
Yes there might be one. But this is the longest one used in known Sanskrit literature so far, or probably the one that has been digged out for its length.
Please note that the world record is not for any longest word, but for the longest word actually used in a literary work.