I was looking at this question about the word albeit and it got me thinking… what is the most compound, non-hyphenated, real word in English? Strictly speaking, albeit might not be counted as a compound word because all dropped a letter, however there are other example – for instance nonetheless. Is three sub-words the limit, or can someone think of a compound word that has more sub-words?
(Note, I excluded hyphenated compound words because you can make whole sentences into words if you go that route.)
Best Answer
From Which is correct: "So far as I know" or "As far as I know"?, I offer: Insofar.
Edit - This question has been puzzling me for a while. I feel like there should be an English word that is itself made up from two compound words, but I cannot think what it might be.
In the mean time, here are some more offerings of words that are made up of three or more sub-words that are considered standard English or have entered the common vernacular (all words pass the stackexchange spellchecker):