Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
noun
The practice of using long, sometimes obscure, words in speech or writing.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A very long word.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Surface form analyzed as sesquipedalian + -ism, from sesqui- (“one and a half”) + pedalian (“of the foot”). From Latin sēsquipedālis (“a foot and a half long; in metaphorical use, “of an unnatural length, huge, big””), from sēsqui (“one and a half times as great”) + pedālis (“foot”).
