Linguist Reveals the Longest Word in the Russian Language — 55 Letters Long

The head of the Department of General and Russian Linguistics at the Pushkin Institute, Pavel Katyshev, has revealed what he considers to be the longest word in the Russian language. In an interview with RIA Novosti, the linguist shared that the record belongs to the adjective 'тетрагидропиранилциклoпентилтетрагидропиридопиридиновые' ('tetragidropiraniltsiklopentiltetragidropiridopiridinovye'), which contains 55 letters.

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The Longest Word Comes from a Scientific Patent

Katyshev explained that the unusually long term appears in the title of a patent registered in 2006, describing a chemical compound. Although highly technical, the word has gained attention for its record-breaking length within the Russian lexicon.

An attempt to break down the word piece by piece reveals:

•  тетра-гидро- (tetrahydro-) → means “containing four hydrogen atoms added,” or “hydrogenated four times.”
• пиранил (pyranyl) → refers to a pyran group, a six-membered heterocyclic ring containing one oxygen atom.
• циклo-пентил (cyclopentyl) → means a five-membered carbon ring (cyclopentane group).
• тетра-гидро-пиридо-пиридиновые (tetrahydropyrido-pyridinovye) → describes something related to tetrahydropyridine and pyridine — nitrogen-containing heterocycles common in many organic compounds and pharmaceuticals.

Putting it all together, the word essentially means:

“Compounds related to tetrahydropyranylcyclopentyltetrahydropyridopyridine derivatives.”

Or more loosely in natural English:

“A class of complex chemical substances containing tetrahydropyranyl, cyclopentyl, and tetrahydropyridopyridine groups.”

Russian Language’s Flexibility with Complex Words

The linguist noted that the Russian language easily absorbs complex and compound words, allowing such formations to emerge naturally.

“This explains why the title of the longest word quickly passes from one unit to another,”

Katyshev explained, emphasizing that Russian’s structural flexibility often gives rise to new lengthy terms in specialized fields.