We love finding weird words here at Dictionarypedia, and here is one of the longest words we discovered, with a whopping 58 characters!
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll-llantysiliogogogoch
This small village in North Wales, UK, holds the title of longest place name in Europe! The name of the village, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll-llantysiliogogogoch is derived from the Welsh words for “St. Mary’s Church in the hollow of white hazel trees near the fierce whirlpool”.
The village is located on the island of Anglesey, off the coast of Wales. The population of the village is about 3,000. The village is best known for its long name, and is a popular tourist destination due to the name and its location on Anglesey. The village has several attractions, including a church, a museum, and a number of shops. It has the longest place name in Europe, and third longest in the world!
Fun Facts About the Name Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll-llantysiliogogogoch:
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- It has 58 characters
- It has 19 syllables
- It is called Llanfair PG for short
- The village hosts around 200,000 tourists a year
The original name of the medieval township was Pwllgwyngyll, meaning “the pool of the white hazels”. The parish name was recorded as Llanfair y Pwllgwyngyll (Llanfair meaning ‘St. Mary’s church’, and y meaning ‘of the’) as far back as the mid 1500’s, in Leland’s Itinerary. Longer versions of the name are thought to have first been used in the 1800’s in an effort to drive tourism into the area.