# precipitevolissimevolmente



## BELINDA1962

Hi all,
 
Can someone please tell me what the word 'precipitevolissimevolmente' means? I need the answer for a competition! 
 
Thanks,
 
Belinda


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## ^dylar^

It means very very very very fast.

Good luck for the competition!


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## BELINDA1962

Thank you!


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## danalto

very very very very fast, yes!

  I like that!

  ciao!
  dan


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## Alfry

I'd say 

very... very hurriedly meaning in a rush
our saying is:
chi troppo in alto sale, cade sovente precipitevolissimevolmente
meaning
the higher you climb the harder you fall


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## mimitabby

Alfry, this is really a word?
precipitevolissimevolmente?? is it the LONGEST italian word?


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## Alfry

I've checked it right now.
My dictionary says so.
as far as I know i think it is.


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## DareRyan

I think my friend is playing games with me, he used this word "precipitevolissimevolmente" in a letter to me. My question to you is A) What does this mean? and B) is he trying to throw me off by using extravagently long words or is this common?

Or as he may phrase it to re-establish my sense of helpelessness, does he phrase his words "sovramagnificentissimamente" (From Dante)

Grazie


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## Jana337

DareRyan said:
			
		

> I think my friend is playing games with me, he used this word "precipitevolissimevolmente" in a letter to me. My question to you is A) What does this mean? and B) is he trying to throw me off by using extravagently long words or is this common?
> 
> Or as he may phrase it to envoke more mayhem "sovramagnificentissimamente" (From Dante)
> 
> Grazie


A) possibly fast, as fast as possible
B) trying to throw you off - definitely yes, common - well, on average, Italian words tend to be longer than English one (just eye test, I have no reliable statistics ready), but this one is just a fun word, I guess.

Jana


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## DareRyan

Thanks. I hoped so. I wouldn't want to have to sight-read something like this on the spot if it was a common word!


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## uinni

DareRyan said:
			
		

> I think my friend is playing games with me, he used this word "precipitevolissimevolmente" in a letter to me. My question to you is A) What does this mean? and B) is he trying to throw me off by using extravagently long words or is this common?
> 
> Or as he may phrase it to re-establish my sense of helpelessness, does he phrase his words "sovramagnificentissimamente" (From Dante)
> 
> Grazie


 

_avv_. (_scherz_.) a precipizio, in modo molto precipitoso (*è la parola più lunga della lingua italiana non scientifica*) | _prov_. : _chi troppo in alto sale, cade sovente precipitevolissimevolmente_, l'ambizione porta spesso alla rovina.

(source GDI - Garzanti)

Uinni


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## Silvia

There's also a made up word used in a Disney movie (Mary Poppins), which goes supercalifragilistichespiralidoso (just in case you wanted to use it with your friend )


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## TrentinaNE

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.


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## Little One

TrentinaNE said:
			
		

> Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.


 
If you say it loud enough, you always sound precocious - according to the song!

But, supercalifraglisticexpialidocious is only 34 letter long. The winner at a huge 45 letters is:


*pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoniosis*

_A lung disease caused by breathing in particles of siliceous volcanic dust._


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## uinni

TrentinaNE said:
			
		

> Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.


 
Actually this is the original "word" (the Italian version is only a translation adaptation).
Moreover, the former is a real Italian word!

Uinni


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## La Bionda

Little One said:
			
		

> If you say it loud enough, you always sound precocious - according to the song!
> 
> But, supercalifraglisticexpialidocious is only 34 letter long. The winner at a huge 45 letters is:
> 
> 
> *pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoniosis*
> 
> _A lung disease caused by breathing in particles of siliceous volcanic dust._


 
Ciao

Ok - how about this one

*Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwll Llantysiliogogogoch  *
** 
It is a village in Wales and one of the longest place names - seriously!


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## Little One

La Bionda said:
			
		

> Ciao
> 
> Ok - how about this one
> 
> *Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwll Llantysiliogogogoch  *
> 
> It is a village in Wales and one of the longest place names - seriously!



Which means in English - Saint Mary's Church in the hollow of white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of Saint Tysilio near the red cave.

But it is not the longest place name in the world. Here it is!

Tetaumatawhakatangihangakoauaotamateaurehaeaturipukapihimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuaakitanarahu

Stretches to 92 letters. It is in the Guinness Book     of Records.
Meaning: 'The brow of the hill where Tamatea, with the bony knees, who slid and climbed mountains, the great traveller, sat and played on the flute to his beloved.'

Can anyone actually say it?


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## Manuel_M

Traditionally the longest word in English has always been hekd to be _antidisestablishmentarianism._


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## Jana337

Dear ladies and gentleman,

I am afraid you are drifting away from the topic of this thread If you wish to discuss long words in all languages, you are welcome to dredge up some old threads from Culture (or perhaps Other languages), and proceed.

Many thanks for understanding.

Jana


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## lsp

Jana337 said:
			
		

> Dear ladies and gentleman,
> 
> I am afraid you are drifting away from the topic of this thread If you wish to discuss long words in all languages, you are welcome to dredge up some old threads from Culture (or perhaps Other languages), and proceed.
> 
> Many thanks for understanding.
> 
> Jana


Even _this_ language's longest word has already been exhaustively discussed _twice_, here and here.


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## newgirl49

Hi! A friend in Italy has sent me this phrase which I can't translate using the dictionary. It was typed "precipitevolissilevolmente" with no spaces; I tried breaking it down into words and got as far as "haste", "fly or soar" "------", "mind" - but can't make sense of it. I'd appreciate any help you can give! Thanks, Newgirl


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## Alfry

Ciao and welcome here

if you try to use the "Search this forum" feature you can find 4 interesting threads about this topic 

ciao


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## Frenko

Hi,

I write just to add a very few things to the previous threads about this word.

"*Precipitevolissimevolmente*" is the result of a trick on precipetevolissimamente

"*Precipetevolissimamente*" is the form that you must use in a serious context... even if I can't figure out someone that is using this word supposed to be serious


Please correct my mistakes, thank you.

Ciao,
Francesco


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## Tommaso Gastaldi

>is the result of a trick on precipetevolissimamente
what do you mean?


PS.

When I was a little child, my grandmother used to call me "precipitevolissimo" (I havent slown down much since then)...


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## Frenko

I meant: è il risultato di un gioco (linguistico/fonetico) su precipitevolissimamente  [che è l'avverbio del superlativo assoluto di precipitevole come dovrebbe essere seguendo le regole per la sua formazione] / is the result of a (linguistic/phonetic) trick (/joke?) on precipitevolissimamente [that is the superlative absolute's adverb of precipitevole as it should be if you follow grammatical rules]

I hope I've been understandable, at least in my mother tongue... 

Buonanotte 
Francesco


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## Tommaso Gastaldi

Non so proprio dove l'hai letta questa cosa. Per quanto ne so io

"precipitevolissimevolmente"

è una parola come le altre (Superl. di precipitevolmente, avv. di precipitevole).

Invece "precipitevolissimamente" io non l'ho mai sentito!  



			
				Frenko said:
			
		

> I meant: è il risultato di un gioco (linguistico/fonetico) su precipitevolissimamente [che è l'avverbio del superlativo assoluto di precipitevole come dovrebbe essere seguendo le regole per la sua formazione] / is the result of a (linguistic/phonetic) trick (/joke?) on precipitevolissimamente [that is the superlative absolute's adverb of precipitevole as it should be if you follow grammatical rules]
> 
> I hope I've been understandable, at least in my mother tongue...
> 
> Buonanotte
> Francesco


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## DAH

Frenko said:
			
		

> I meant: è il risultato di un gioco (linguistico/fonetico) su precipitevolissimamente [che è l'avverbio del superlativo assoluto di precipitevole come dovrebbe essere seguendo le regole per la sua formazione] / is the result of a (linguistic/phonetic) trick (/joke?) on precipitevolissimamente [that is the superlative absolute's adverb of precipitevole as it should be if you follow grammatical rules]
> 
> I hope I've been understandable, at least in my mother tongue...  Buonanotte  Francesco


 
In inglese, parliamo "a play on words" invece di trick or joke.


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## ElaineG

> In inglese, diciamo "a play on words" invece di trick or joke.


 
Yes, but you can also say a phonetic joke, where, as Frenko is here, you're talking about the play of sounds within a word.  It doesn't sound wrong to me.


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## DAH

ElaineG said:
			
		

> Yes, but you can also say a phonetic joke, where, as Frenko is here, you're talking about the play of sounds within a word. It doesn't sound wrong to me.


 
Lordy, Lordy, of course "diciamo," duh. Too much sun today (you must know, Cali is too much sun for the brain.)


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## Tommaso Gastaldi

that's not a joke. It's a standard word [though the longest we have (if we exclude scientifical terms, of course)].



			
				ElaineG said:
			
		

> Yes, but you can also say a phonetic joke, where, as Frenko is here, you're talking about the play of sounds within a word. It doesn't sound wrong to me.


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## ElaineG

> that's not a joke. It's a standard word (though the longest we have).


 
I didn't say it was or wasn't a joke. I was discussing with DAH the choice of words in Frenko's post, and we were helping him translate those. I certainly have no idea whether or not there's a phonetic joke in there, as Frenko says. Lascio l'esistenza o meno di uno scherzo agli esperti; volevo solo dare una mano con l'inglese.


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## Frenko

avverbio del superlativo assoluto = radice + -issima -mente

so you can obtain (the radix is behind the "-")

from lodevol-issimo => lodevolissimamente (not lodevolissimevolmente)
from disdicevol-issimo => disdicevolissimamente (not disdicevolmentissimevolmente)
from cert-issimo => certissimamente (not certissimevolmente)
from precipitevol-issimo => precipitevolissimamente (not precipitevolissimevolmente)
 from precipitevolissimevol-e (this word doesen't exist as far as I know) you can obtain precipitevolissimevolmente EDIT this one is from another scheme to be done  and doesn't fit with this one

bye,
F.


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## Tommaso Gastaldi

Google:
Risultati 1 - 9 su circa 31 per precipitevolissimamente 
Risultati 1 - 10 su circa 559 per precipitevolissimevolmente 

See:
http://italian.about.com/library/weekly/aa081303a.htm

Cfr. also Garzanti


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## susanna.3

Salve a tutti,
_Precipitevolissimevolmente_ is the longest word in the Italian language. Derived from the adjective _precipitevole_, _precipitevolissimevolmente_ is an adverb meaning 'as fast as you can'.
Don't worry if you can't say that word,I know many Italian people with the same problem.


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## susanna.3

Mi scusi Tommaso mi sono accorta che è la stessa frase del sito da lei linkato.
I have saved the phrase on my computer for my friends,they ask to me often.


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## Frenko

Tommaso Gastaldi said:
			
		

> Google:
> Risultati 1 - 9 su circa 31 per precipitevolissimamente
> Risultati 1 - 10 su circa 559 per precipitevolissimevolmente
> I never said that "precipitevolissimevolmente" doesen't exist. What I'm saying is that the first one is the normal form  obtained following grammar 's rules
> looking at the spell-check, google accept both this word e.g. http://www.google.it/search?l&q=precipitevolissiamente&btnG=Cerca&meta=
> 
> See: Vedi sopra
> http://italian.about.com/library/weekly/aa081303a.htm
> 
> Cfr. also Garzanti Why this is the only superlative's adverb that one would find on the dictionary? To be much clearer, here is my Devoto-Oli return [the highlighting is made by me]:
> 
> "precipitevole: agg., lett., non com. Di cosa sottoposta a moto rovinoso: se ne è tratto l'avv., di intonazione scherzosa, _precipitevolissimevolmente_." (lett. and non com. explain, in my opinion, google's results though)


moreover the intention of the scheme in my previous post was to show the rule and it's pratical use:

If I pick the base cert- by certo (certain) I could obtain the superlative adding -issimo/a, or the superlative's adverb adding -issimamente; in the same way I can obtain the adverb (diciamo/we could say "di grado positivo") from the superlative's adverb "certissimamente - (minus) issim = certamente"

Now, the base for preipitevole is precipitevol-. 

The last thing: if I decompose precipitevolissimevolmente (a word that definitely exists) into its parts I have: precipitevol- _base_; -issim _superlative's suffix_; -evol _???_; -mente _adverb's suffix_.

At this point the only question I ask is: -What "-evol" is?

_I promise that this is my last post about that, something I guess will not displease_  (thanks to Charles Costante for his correction)

Adieu! 
Francesco


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## You little ripper!

susanna.3 said:
			
		

> Mi scusi Tommaso mi sono accorta che è la stessa frase del sito da lei linkato.
> I have saved the phrase on my computer for my friends,they ask to me often.


Hi susanna.3,
Just a small correction. In English we don't say _ask to_. We just say _ask_. It would be better to say, _I have saved that word (_it is not a phrase; a phrase is more than one word_) on my computer. My friends ask me for it often. _


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## You little ripper!

Frenko said:
			
		

> I promise, and I guess no one want regret, this is my last post about that
> 
> Adieu!
> Francesco


Hi Frenko,
Just a small correction. Regret is not the best choice of word in this sentence. It would be better to say, _I promise that this is my last post about that, something I guess will not displease.  _


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## Juri

PROVERBIO:
Chi troppo in alto  vola,
cade sovente,
precipitevolissimevolmente!


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## Tommaso Gastaldi

Ha una origine che risale al '600. Fu usata da Francesco MONETI (frate francescano) in un'opera satirica (nel terzo canto), contro i Gesuiti, che piu' tardi fu costretto a ritrattare. 

"LA CORTONA CONVERTITA" (Poema satirico)

cfr:
http://www.classicitaliani.it/critica_htm/merlini02.htm

Quaderni di Semantica 
2005 - Volume 26, Numero 1, June 
Precipitevolissimevolmente: un derivato o che?, di Salvatore Claudio Sgroi 145


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## DAH

Frenko said:
			
		

> Now, the base for preipitevole is precipitevol-.
> 
> The last thing: if I decompose precipitevolissimevolmente (a word that definitely exists) into its parts I have: precipitevol- _base_; -issim _superlative's suffix_; -evol _???_; -mente _adverb's suffix_. At this point the only question I ask is: -What "-evol" is? Francesco


 
-- vole suffisso che risponde al _lat. -_bilem e indica aver l'attitudine a subire una azione, cioè che si può, e vuolsi tragga dalla stessa radice di val-ere: p. es. ammira-vole == ammira-bile == che si può ammirare (see www.etimo.it)


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## Frenko

thank you DAH, but what is pretty strange is the position inside the word of that suffix, you must use it just after the "pure" base, indeed precipit-evole means che ha l'attitudine a precipitare. (precipit- is the pure base + evole suffix)

I don't know if I was able to explain what I mean


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## DAH

The content comes from etimo.it which gives the etymology of Italian words. Essentially, the suffix works for most everything.


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## arceri

Ciao a tutti,
in Italiano la parola con il maggior numero di lettere è l'avverbio
"Precipitevolissimevolmente" (26 lettere). Il proverbio dice: Chi troppo in alto sal, cade sovente precipitevolissimevolmente ( e cioè molto velocemente).
Anche nella lingua Inglese ( o altre) ci sono parole con giusto significato altrettanto lunghe?
Grazie per la risposta
arceri


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## baldpate

The one always cited is ....

*antidisestablishmentarianism* = anti-disestablishment-arian-ism

opposition to the disestablishment of the Church of England (in which disestablishment = withdrawal of state recognition from an established church)

anti = a prefix of negation
arian = a suffix denoting a person holding to a certain belief or doctrine
ism = a suffix denoting state or condition (among other things)

Not an everyday word !!!


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## underhouse

28 letters, baldpate: longer than the Italian longest!


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## Salegrosso

Sicuramente in tedesco esistono parole che riempiono varie RIGHE! 
Ma questo non e' il forum tedesco.


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